38 - AN IMPORTANT AND PUBLISHED MUMMY MASK WITH AN UNUSUALLY RICH ICONOGRAPHY, PROBABLY AKHMIM, CIRCA 50-100 AD, FEATURED ON THE COVER OF ‘TOD AM NIL’

AN IMPORTANT AND PUBLISHED MUMMY MASK WITH AN UNUSUALLY RICH ICONOGRAPHY, PROBABLY AKHMIM, CIRCA 50-100 AD, FEATURED ON THE COVER OF ‘TOD AM NIL’ Exhibited: 1. Schirn Kunsthalle, Augenblicke. Mumienporträts und ägyptische Grabkunst aus römischer Zeit, Frankfurt, Germany, 30 January 1999 - 11 April 1999. 2. Austrian National Library, Tod am Nil: Tod und Totenkult im antiken Ägypten, Vienna, Austria, 22 July 2003 - 5 March 2004. Published: 1. Klaus Parlasca, Augenblicke. Mumienporträts und ägyptische Grabkunst aus römischer Zeit (exhibition catalogue), Frankfurt, 1999, p. 336-337, no. 230. 2. Harald Froschauer & Hermann Harrauer, Tod am Nil: Tod und Totenkult im antiken Ägypten (exhibition catalogue), Vienna, 2003, p. 86-87, no. 4. Note that the present lot is shown on the cover of this exhibition catalogue. Expert’s note The present mask was published by Klaus Parlasca in the catalogue of the landmark 1999 Frankfurt exhibition Augenblicke Mumienporträts und ägyptische Grabkunst aus römischer Zeit in the Schirn Kunsthalle (192.715 visitors in 1999) as no. 230. Parlasca proposed Akhmim as its probable place of origin and specifically emphasized the remarkable quality of its execution, regarding this very quality as an important chronological indicator and concluding that the mask must have been created before the end of the 1st century AD. This assessment provides the basis for the more precise dating of circa 50-100 AD adopted here. The mask was subsequently also exhibited as no. 4 in Tod am Nil: Tod und Totenkult im antiken Ägypten at the Austrian National Library in Vienna (173.153 visitors in 2003) from 2003-2004. Its importance within the exhibition is particularly evident from its selection as the cover image of the accompanying catalogue. Significantly, the Austrian National Library also chose the present mask to represent the exhibition in the official Austrian Cultural Report 2003, further underlining its status as one of the defining images of Tod am Nil. Egypt. Finely modeled in cartonnage and richly decorated in polychrome pigments and gilding. Condition: Good condition, commensurate with age. Extensive wear, weathering, and traces of prolonged burial, with losses to the cartonnage, pigments, and gilding. Areas of retouching to the pigments and gilding, as well as old reinforcements to the cartonnage, consistent with the age and fragile nature of the material. Egyptian Export License: The present mask is accompanied by a copy of the official Egyptian export license, authorization no. 1240, dated 8 February 1965. The permit specifically identifies the object as “Gilded cartonnage mummy mask no. 68,” records it as belonging to the Collection Khashaba Pasha, and names Madame Simone de Monbrison, Paris, as the person to whom it was exported. The document further records Cairo Airport as the port of shipment and provides for inspection by the Egyptian Museum, official sealing of the package, and customs clearance. Such surviving Egyptian export documentation from this period is uncommon and provides particularly valuable contemporary evidence for both the lawful export of the mask and its provenance prior to its arrival in France. A copy of the complete documentation accompanies this lot. Provenance: - Collection of Sayyid Khashaba Pasha, Egypt, 1910, and thence by descent to his son Osman Khashaba. - Simone de Monbrison, Paris, 1965. - Pierre Bergé & Associés, Paris, 21 May 2014, lot 82, sold for EUR 120,000 or approx. EUR 160,000 (adjusted for inflation at the time of writing). Weight: 867 g (excl. stand), 4.3 kg (incl. stand) Dimensions: Height 33 cm (excl. stand), 40 cm (incl. stand) Auction result comparison: Type: Closely related Auction: Christie’s London, 4 December 2024, lot 7 Price: GBP 81,900 or approx. EUR 103,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing Description: An Egyptian gilt cartonnage mummy mask, Ptolemaic period - Roman period, circa 1st century B.C.-1st century A.D. Expert remark: Compare the closely related form, decoration, use of gilt and pigments, and condition. Note the size (33 cm). Due to length restriction on Drouot this entry is shortened. For full description please visit www.zacke.at.