Skip to main content

Mummy Mask of Meret-it-es

CultureEgyptian
Dateca. 380-250 B.C.E.
MediumCartonnage (linen or papyrus covered in plaster), paint, and gold leaf
DimensionsOverall: 15 1/2 × 9 1/2 × 10 inches (39.37 × 24.13 × 25.4 cm)
Credit LinePurchase: William Rockhill Nelson Trust (by exchange)
Object number2007.12.3
On View
On view
Gallery Location
  • 102
Collections
DescriptionHead and chest down to sternum. Broad wig; high, distinct ears; eyebrows raised. Eyes and eyebrows painted. Six rows of a pectoral lightly incised mostly with rosettes but also open and closed lotuses along with other flowers.Exhibition History

Das Geheimnis der Mumien: Ewiges Leben am Nil, Roemer- und Pelizaeus-Museum, Hildesheim, June 22-November 30, 1997.

 

Aegyptien, Liebe, Wein und Unsterblichkeit, Rheingauer Weinmuseum, Broemserburg, Ruedesheim am Rhein, July 1-October 31, 1998.

 

Mumien Graeber, Kostbarkeiten, Ausstellungszentrum Lokshuppen, Rosenheim, December 18, 1998- April 5, 1999.

 

Mumien fuer die Ewigkeit, Landesmuseum fuer Vorgeschichte, Dresden, August 12-December 5, 1999.

 

Search for Immortality, Life and Afterlife in Ancient Egypt, Taiwan, March-July 2000.    
Provenance

Probably found in Hermopolis Magna [1];

 

Sayed Mohammad Khashaba (Pasha), Assiut, Egypt [2];

 

By inheritance to Osman Sayyed Khashaba, Assiut, Egypt, 1953-1972 [3];

 

Purchased from Khashaba, through Ahmad Fahmi Ali Fahmi, Cairo and Hagop Ohan Simonian, Cairo, by Münzen and Medaillen A.G., Basel, 1972;

 

Purchased from Münzen and Medaillen A.G. by Michael Emil, by 1976-December 31, 1998;

 

Purchased from Emil by Millenium Art Holdings Ltd., Jersey, Channel Islands, December 31, 1998-September 30, 2005;

 

Purchased from Millenium Art Holdings Ltd. by the dealers Noele and Ronald Mele, Westport, CT, September 30, 2005-2007;

 

Purchased from Noele and Ronald Mele by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 2007.

 

NOTES:

 

[1] Based on hieroglyphs that appear on the front of the inner coffin.

 

[2] The provenance of the Meret-it-es Assemblage was presented by Millenium Art Holdings Ltd. in the District Court of Berlin in Berlin-Charlottenburg, November 15, 2005, reference number 9 O 511/05 and in the Superior Court in Berlin-Schöneberg, October 16, 2006, reference number 10 U 286/05.

 

[3] According to the documentation of the proceedings referenced in note 2, Osman Sayyed Khashaba gave Ahmad Fahmi Ali Fahmi power of attorney to sell the assemblage on his behalf on November 13, 1969. Ali Fahmi in turn granted a delegated power of attorney to Hagop Ohan Simonian on November 15, 1969 and contracted him to sell the objects.
Published References

Muzhou Pu, Search for Immortality: Life and Afterlife in Ancient Egypt (Taiwan: Tai bei shi, 2000).

 

Kathleen Garland, Johanna Bernstein and Joe Rogers, “Raising Meret-it-es: Examining and Conserving an Egyptian Anthropoid Coffin from 380-250 BCE,” Journal of the American Institute for Conservation 54, no. 1 (2015): 102.

Information about a particular artwork or image, including provenance information, is based upon historic information and may not be currently accurate or complete. Research on artwork and images is an ongoing process, and the information about a particular artwork or image may not reflect the most current information available to the Museum. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about a particular artwork or image, please e-mail provenance@nelson-atkins.org.


Pectoral of Meret-it-es
ca. 380-250 B.C.E.
2007.12.4.A
Apron of Meret-it-es
ca. 380-250 B.C.E.
2007.12.4.B
overall oblique
ca. 380-250 B.C.E.
2007.12.2.A,B
Head of a Buddha
Tang dynasty (618-906 C.E.)
32-47
Mask
early 20th century
2006.25
Head
Gupta period (300-599 C.E.)
F92-15/7
Male head with hat
Shunga dynasty (199-1 B.C.E.)
F92-15/4
Wall Hanging
Yongzhen period (1723-1736)
2007.9
Maiden spirit mask
late 19th-early 20th century
F97-7