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Furniture Finishing

In chests and caskets we observe what is probably the most typically Egyptian form of decoration. Of them the painter made what are virtually history books by wording and illustrating episodes from the lives of reigning Pharaohs, hunting and battle scenes, all centering around "cartouches" or coats of arms emblematic of sovereignty over the kingdoms of the Upper and Lower Nile.

These intricate "hieroglyphics" or word pictures, were executed with red, yellow, blue and green earth colors mixed with a pale vegetable gum, very probably that of the Syrian tragacanth tree, or with the whites of eggs overlaid with the preservative gum varnish. The tiny figures required an especially fine brush and these the ingenious Egyptian made from selected reeds and rushes. The tips he soaked in water until he obtained minute separation of the fibres, whereupon he cut out the core and bound them at the proper point, securing from one and the same piece, bristle, ferrule and handle.

MODERN REPRODUCTIONS

Egyptian decorative motifs, both in carving and painted decoration, have been borrowed repeatedly in the history of furniture, notably during the Empire period in France when Napoleon returned triumphant from his battles around the pyramids. On the other hand, reproductions of Egyptian furniture design have never been in demand save during the brief vogue for "King Tut" at the time of the Howard Carter excavations and discoveries a few years back.