<em>Mummy Cartonnage of a Woman</em>, 1st century C.E. Linen, gesso, gold leaf, glass, faience, 23 x 14 x 9 in. (58.4 x 35.6 x 22.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 69.35. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 69.35_overall_black_PS22.jpg)

Mummy Cartonnage of a Woman, 1st century C.E. Linen, gesso, gold leaf, glass, faience, 23 x 14 x 9 in. (58.4 x 35.6 x 22.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 69.35. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 69.35_overall_black_PS22.jpg)

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This is from the 1st century CE, when Romans ruled ancient Egypt, but Egyptian funerary beliefs and rituals were still followed.

This is almost like a portrait of the woman who this cartonnage was made for, so she's depicted wearing her finest jewelry.

Tell me more.

The heavily gilded mummy mask is an especially ostentatious demonstration of the owner's wealth. You may have noticed that it looks quite a bit different from the other mummy masks nearby.

This woman's clothing is distinctly Roman, but this object serves an Egyptian religious function (to adorn the mummy). The blue eyebrows are a surprising and telling detail.

The ancient Egyptian believed that the gods had hair made of lapis lazuli, a blue stone. The woman's blue eyebrows tell us that she hopes to join the Egyptian gods in the afterlife.

Mummy Cartonnage of a Woman

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

MEDIUM Linen, gesso, gold leaf, glass, faience

Possible Place Made: Hawara, Egypt

DATES 1st century C.E.

PERIOD Roman Period

DIMENSIONS 23 x 14 x 9 in. (58.4 x 35.6 x 22.9 cm) (show scale)

COLLECTIONS Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

ACCESSION NUMBER 69.35

CREDIT LINE Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund

PROVENANCE Archaeological provenance not yet documented, reportedly from Hawara, Egypt; before April 3, 1969, acquired by Galerie Maspero, Paris, France; by May 1969, Galerie Maspero transferred to Etablissement Archeologique, Liechtenstein; May 14, 1969, purchased from Etablissement Archeologique by the Brooklyn Museum.

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CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Mummy cartonnage of a woman with draped garment, elaborate coiffure, eyes inlaid with glass, necklace (formerly inlaid throughout) and garland. There are also serpent-armlets, in relief, on the upper arms and wrists. The front is mostly gilded, but wreath and top and sides of head are painted. This fragile object is made of linen and gesso. Condition: Cracked in many places and somewhat chipped. Cracks and chips on the throat, left shoulder and left cheek have been restored before the piece came to Brooklyn.

MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view

CAPTION Mummy Cartonnage of a Woman, 1st century C.E. Linen, gesso, gold leaf, glass, faience, 23 x 14 x 9 in. (58.4 x 35.6 x 22.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 69.35. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 69.35_overall_black_PS22.jpg)

IMAGE overall, 69.35_overall_black_PS22.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2024

"CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.

RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY

You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.

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