The Arts And Crafts Of Ancient Egypt | by W. M. Flinders Petrie
This present handbook is intended to aid in the understanding of Egyptian art, and the illustrations and descriptions are selected for that purpose only. The history of the art would require a far greater range of examples, in order to illustrate the growth and decay of each of the great periods; whereas here only the most striking works of each period are shown, m order to contrast the different civilisations. The origins and connections of the art in each age are scarcely touched, and the technical details are only such as are needed to see the conditions of the art. The archaeology of the subject would need as wide a treatment as the history, and these subjects can only appear here incidentally.
| Title | The Arts And Crafts Of Ancient Egypt |
| Author | W. M. Flinders Petrie |
| Publisher | T. N. Foulis |
| Year | 1910 |
| Copyright | 1910, T. N. Foulis |
| Amazon | The Arts And Crafts Of Ancient Egypt |
The Arts And Crafts Of The Nations
General Editor : S. H. F. Capenny
The Arts And Crafts Of Ancient Egypt
by W. M. Flinders Petrie
D.C.L., F.R.S., F.B.A., Etc., Professor Of Egyptology In London University; Author Of "A History Of Egypt," Etc.
Containing One Hundred And Forty Illustrations
Second Edition With Additional Chapter
Old Kingdom Relief
Wood-carving of Rahesy.
Preface- This present handbook is intended to aid in the understanding of Egyptian art, and the illustrations and descriptions are selected for that purpose only. The history of the art would require a far gre...
- Periods And Kings Referred To In This Volume
- Regarding the illustrations, I have thought it more useful to give details large enough to be clearly seen, rather than to contract too much surface into a space where it cannot well be studied. Porti...
- Chapter I. The Character Of Egyptian Art
- The art of a country, like the character of the inhabitants, belongs to the nature of the land. The climate, the scenery, the contrasts of each country, all clothe the artistic impulse as diversely as...
- Chapter II. The Periods And Schools
- Before we can understand any art the first step is to discriminate between the different periods and their various styles, and to observe the characteristics of the several schools. If we consider med...
- The Periods And Schools. Part 2
- The Pyramid age (4700 - 4000 B.C.) brought in fresh ideals. The early kings had expanded a chieftainship into a kingdom, without realising all the new conditions of organization which were involved. T...
- The Periods And Schools. Part 3
- The XlXth dynasty art is fairly represented by a figure of one of the king's sons (fig. 8). Here is seen the baldness of the style. The profile is mechanical, the hair hangs in a heavy and ugly flap, ...
- Chapter III. The Statuary
- Figures in the round are the earliest mode of modelling, and remain the most important, as they are less conditioned than reliefs, and give full scope to ability and knowledge. The earliest human figu...
- The Statuary. Part 2
- The celebrated figure of Ka-aper, or the Sheykh el Beled, belongs to the same period. The figure is so well known that it need not appear here, but the full face is less familiar (fig. 25). The mout...
- The Statuary. Part 3
- The other type of eye seen in figs. 33, 35 may be called the narrow eye. This seems to belong mainly to the Middle Kingdom, and is seen in Senusert III, Amenemhat III, Queen Nofert, and Noferhotep. It...
- The Statuary. Part 4
- We now turn to the minor work in wood. In the Old Kingdom, wood was frequently carved on a large scale; of the Middle Kingdom there is the statue of King Hor; but under the New Kingdom the only large ...
- Chapter IV. The Reliefs
- In reliefs the representation of Nature is complicated by the inevitable use of some conventions, and some kind of perspective, to reduce solid objects to a plane delineation. It follows that for the ...
- Chapter V. The Painting And Drawing
- Painting is certainly the earliest art of Egypt; but, being more perishable than sculpture, many periods of it are hardly represented at present. A very early prehistoric vase, painted with white slip...
- The Painting And Drawing
- Such were used in nearly all cases as a preliminary guide; but they were freely improved on in the final black drawing, as here the whole base has been lowered. This also shows the sketch-forms of hie...
- Chapter VI. The Architecture
- Strange to say, Egyptian architecture has never yet been systematically studied; we know nothing of its proportions and variations. The earliest constructions were of brick, or of palm-sticks inter...
- The Architecture. Continued
- The tower front of the temple at Medinet Habu (fig. 82) is one of the few facades that is preserved. It was copied from the Syrian fortresses, and shows how the Asiatic influences had entered Egypt du...
- Chapter VII. The Stone-Working
- We here begin to deal with the more technical rather than the purely artistic view - the crafts as well as the arts. Connected with the last chapter is the study of the materials and methods used for ...
- The Stone-Working. Continued
- The large hieroglyphs on hard stones were cut by copper blades fed with emery, and sawn along the outline by hand; the block between the cuts was broken out, and the floor of the sign was hammer-dress...
- Chapter VIII. Jewellery
- Native gold is, in all countries, one of the earliest materials for manufactured ornaments, and it appears to have been much used in prehistoric Egypt. Though gold is not now sought in or near Egypt, ...
- Jewellery. Part 2
- The third pectoral, of Amenemhat III, is the least successful in design. It is made too large in order to take in whole figures of the king fighting; the action is violent; and, not content with four ...
- Jewellery. Part 3
- Of the XIXth dynasty there is the Serapeum jewellery, found with the Apis burials. The pectoral of Ramessu II (fig. 105) is of good design; the wings of the vulture are boldly spread in wide curves, a...
- Chapter IX. Metal Work
- Here we shall deal with the useful metals, apart from the ornamental work of jewellery previously described. Copper was worked from the beginning of the prehistoric civilisation. In one of the earlies...
- Metal Work. Continued
- A favourite decoration of copper-work in later times, from about 700 B.C., was by inlaying lines of gold or silver in it. This is a common system in India now, where it is known as Keft work; the name...
- Chapter X. Glazed Ware
- The use of glazing begins far back in the prehistoric age, some thousands of years before any examples of glass are known. Glaze is found on a quartz base as early as on a pottery base; and it seems p...
- Glazed Ware. Continued
- Under Amenhotep III and IV the art of glazing reached its most brilliant development, both in its colours and in the variety of its applications. Beside the previously used shades of blue and green we...
- Glass
- There has been much misunderstanding about the age of glass in Egypt. Figures of smiths blowing a fire with reeds tipped with clay have been quoted as figures blowing glass, though no blown glass is k...
- Chapter XI. The Pottery
- The varieties of pottery are so extensive that from the prehistoric age alone a thousand are figured, and the later ages give at least thrice that number. We cannot attempt to give even an outline of ...
- Chapter XII. Ivory-Working
- In prehistoric times ivory was much used, doubtless owing to the elephant being still abundant in southern Egypt. The natural form of the tusk was often left, and the surface worked in low relief; but...
- Chapter XIII. Woodwork
- Wood was by no means so rare in early times as it is now in Egypt. Floyer has shown how much the desert has been stripped by the introduction of the tree-feeding camel. We see in the royal tombs of th...
- Chapter XIV. Plaster And Stucco
- In the masonry of the pyramids plaster is constantly used, both to fill joints as a bedding, and to level up hollows in a face. The plaster used is a mixture of ordinary lime and plaster of Paris, the...
- Chapter XV. Clothing
- Though leather hides, with the hair on, are found over bodies in the earliest graves, yet linen cloth was introduced early in the prehistoric times, and is frequently found wrapped around the bodies. ...
- Chapter XVI. Egypt's Place In The Art Of The World
- In the opening chapter we have considered the point of view from which the art of Egypt - like that of every other country - must be approached. The physical conditions which surround man will necessa...
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