Instructor’s Name: S.Squirewell
Title of Assignment: Visit to the Brooklyn Museum of Art
Date: 9/18/14
Class:Art100
Section:017
Coffin of Thothirdes
Introduction:
For this assignment, a trip to the Brooklyn Museum of Art was required. On this visit, Ancient Egyptian Art was the primary focus. While I was at the Brooklyn Museum of Art I looked at many Ancient Egyptian pieces of art but I will be describing the piece I enjoyed the most. I will tell you about this piece of art and tell you why I believe this piece of art was created.
Name and Date of the Piece:
The name of the piece I have chosen is; The Coffin of Thothirdes. The Coffin of Thothirdes is dated circa 664-525 B.C.E. This was proven because the Mummy of Thothirdes had undergone carbon-14 dating and that method is used to decide the date of an archaeological piece. Materials and Tools Used:
This piece didn’t really have many Materials or Tools used to create it. The Materials and Tools used were Wood, Paint and Plaster.
Detailed Description of my Observation:
The Coffin of Thothirdes has a burgundy colored face, yellowish eyes, and gold and black headdress. Right under the coffin’s head on the chest I noticed something that looks similar to a bird with the wings spread. The rest of the coffin is painted with the same 3 colors burgundy, black and gold with symbols. Some symbols I noticed were dogs or wolves walking around. People with tools in their hands as if they were getting ready to build something together. In the middle of the Coffin I noticed there was someone in a coffin and two people were over it. The outside of the piece looks smooth despite a few chipped pieces probably from it being moved around or being around so many years. The inside of the Coffin shows someone that looks like a female but could be Thothirdes and is wearing a white outfit with a red tie around it. On the right arm of the figure inside the coffin there is something that wraps around it but looks like it has moved closer to the head of the figure. Under the feet there are Egyptian symbols or it could be hieroglyphics. The inside of the coffin doesn’t look very smooth and has a lot of chipped pieces of paint and wood, but I honestly would expect something that has been in the world this long to look worse than what it does.
Speculation on the Purpose and the Message the Work of Art Attempts to Convey:
I researched Thothirdes Coffin and found out that Coffins like this one