From monumental tomb paintings to delicate ivories, ancient Egyptian objects are some of the most complex and fragile encountered by archaeologists, curators and conservators. Those who examine, analyse and treat them face a number of practical and ethical challenges.
This volume of papers, by an international group of experts, focuses on decorated surfaces including polychrome wood, coloured basketry, patinated metal and painted textile. Aspects of technology, investigation and treatment are examined, as well as broader issues of preservation, storage and display. A comprehensive review of past and current treatments for organic objects is followed by thought provoking case studies, technical surveys and innovative solutions to conservation problems.
Wide-ranging, authoritative and accessible, this book is essential reading for anyone concerned with the study and care of ancient Egyptian objects.
Proceedings of a conference held in Cambridge, UK on 7-8 September 2007
Forward and acknowledgements
Observations on the preparation layers found on ancient Egyptian decorated coffins in the Michael C. Carlos Museum
Renee A. Stein and Peter Lacovara
Lead cladding on a wooden royal figure: an unusual ancient surface reconstructed
Ann Heywood
Investigation and analysis of three gilded wood samples from the tomb of Tutankhamun
Mai M. Rifai and Nesrin M.N. El Hadidi
Egyptian colours and pigments in French collections: 30 years of physicochemical analyses on 300 objects
Sandrine Pages-Camagna and Helene Guichard
Greener shades of pale: a review of advances in the characterisation of ancient Egyptian green pigments
David A. Scott
Patina and polychromy: reconstructing some technical histories for small Egyptian bronze sculpture in the British Museum
Fleur Shearman
Computed tomography and X-radiography of a coffin from Dynasty 21/22
Phil Parkes and David Watkinson
The conservation of decorated organic Egyptian surfaces: a literature review
Susanne Gansicke
Selected case studies in the treatment and preservation of Middle Kingdom polychrome wood in the collections of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Pamela Hatchfield and Gwynne Ryan
Ancient Egyptian basketry: investigation, conservation and colour
Barbara Wills and Marei Hacke
Treatment of a Dynasty 18 painted coffin, 37.47E a-e (Abbott Collection 405A)
Hiroko Kariya, Lisa Bruno, Jakki Godfrey and Tina March
Roman Egyptian gilded cartonnage: technical study and conservation of a mummy mask from Hawara
Sophie Rowe, Ruth Siddall and Rebecca Stacey
Deterioration and damage on encaustic mummy portraits
Lin Rosa Spaabæk
The conservation treatment of the Roman Egyptian paintings in the Hearst Museum of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley
Jane Williams
The new life of Crispina: scientific analyses and conservation of an Egyptian painted shroud of the Roman period
Sandrine Pages-Camagna, Helene Guichard, Roberta Cortopassi, Claire Bergeaud, Elsa Vigouroux-Gaillard and Marie-France Aubert
Material investigations of the J. Paul Getty Museum's red-shroud mummy
Marie Svoboda and Marc Walton
Issues in the display of Egyptian decorated material
Veronika Vlkova Antoniou
Emergency stabilisation and removal of the termite-damaged coffins found in Tomb KV-63, Valley of the Kings, Luxor
Nadia Lokma
Poster abstracts
Appendix: Chronology
