Ancient Pigments
Ancient pigments always show at some part the unfaded colour. There is no such thing as uniform degradation of colour. There should be no general appearance of decay. The ancient things were made of fresh material, and were preserved carefully.
Egyptian blue is composed of sand, copper oxide, and soda, mixed together, ground finely, then moistened with water, tied up in a tiny bag the size of a walnut, put into a furnace and heated to the temperature of red-hot copper. This must be done in a small furnace, and the temperature must not be carried too high, or an ordinary green glass will result. The temperature must be just enough to fuse the copper, soda, and silica into what is called a frit, that is, the stage which immediately precedes the fusion of the ingredients which would result in glass. The ball of frit is taken out and pulverised, mixed with glue or gum arabic, and used as a paint. The depth of colour decreases if the paint is ground too finely.
The green colour is either the natural green ore (malachite), or an oxide or artificial carbonate.
The purple colour is manganese oxide.
The red colour is simply earthy hæmatite or iron oxide.
The black colour is either carbon or black oxide of iron, or both mixed together, or the black oxide of manganese.
The yellow is plain yellow ochre, sometimes mixed with a little white.
Grey is wood ash, mixed with lime white, or powdered gypsum.
Lime white is merely ordinary lime which has got stale or slacked.
A Winged Scarab and the four Genii.
CHAPTER VIII
ALABASTER
Alabaster jars were used in the old days to contain pigments, ointment, kohl, and similar commodities. They were also placed in large numbers in the graves, hence the quantity that comes into the market. The price is moderate, from a few shillings to several pounds, and one would hardly have thought it worth while for the forgers to copy them; yet it is now regularly done. But there is something about the old alabaster jar or pot which makes it somewhat easier to distinguish from forgeries than is the case with scarabs. In the old pots there are certain irregularities of make, a kind of lumpiness from the way in which they were cut out. The pots are thin and drilled out to the bottom with the bow-drill, and the outsides are worn. Forgeries are made on the lathe, and are turned out regular in shape. They are thicker, heavier, and not drilled down to the bottom. The work on the interior is rough, and gives signs of having been hastily done. Some of the smaller pots are made in two halves, an upper and a lower, and joined by a cement about the middle. Sometimes old pots are recut or re-shaped, in order to give them a better appearance. The ones most difficult to tell from the originals are those made with the old bow-drill, for here comes in the slight irregularity of shape, and the work approaches much more nearly to that of the ancient Egyptians, as it is most probable that the originals were made in the same way.
PLATE IX.
ALABASTER.
1, 3, 4, 6 & 8. Kohl pots.
2. A head, Greek period.
5, 7 & 9. Vases.
10 & 11. Bowls.
[Plate IX] shows various kinds of alabaster pots, all of which are forgeries. Of recent years, a demand has arisen for heads carved out of alabaster. As it is quite certain that the value of these would be considerable, were they genuine antīcas, and the supply would be extremely small, the Egyptian has stepped in, and is endeavouring to supply the want after his fashion. Fig. 2 shows a head in alabaster. The style is of the Greek period. The workmanship is only fair, and carelessly done, the ears not having been formed at all. However, it represents a period when Egyptian Art was declining.
I remember an up-river man, who was employed on an excavation, picking up a piece of stone, and in his spare time fashioning a head out of it with his knife. Later on he showed it to his employer. The excavator looked at it grimly for a few moments. Then, remarking that the man was far too clever to be a simple workman on a digging, he discharged him and sent him back to his village.
A few years ago some life-sized alabaster statues of Mykerinos, the builder of the Third Pyramid, were found by the Harvard University Expedition. They had been considerably mutilated, but some of them were put together, and fortunately the heads were but little damaged. The statues showed three periods in the life of Mykerinos: youth, early manhood, and then a rather later period. The workmanship was exquisite, and the value of the statues was enormous.
It is safe to say that this discovery has not been lost sight of by the spurious antiquity makers, as alabaster is a soft stone to work in, and offers a fair scope for the exhibition of their talent. I have already been shown a very rough copy in alabaster of what one of these spurious antiquity makers called the features of Mykerinos. Fortunately they presented no resemblance, a fact which I did not impart to him.
CHAPTER IX
PORCELAIN, SERPENTINE AND
GRANITE
On the way to Deir-el-Bahari, a man offered to sell me the small blue vase with a handle shown in [Plate X]. He asked 25s. for it, but a glance served to show that it was not genuine; the colour was too blue, and the weight of it showed that it was solid, not hollow. This was confirmed by testing it with a hatpin belonging to one of our party, and I proceeded to bargain. Eventually I bought it for 5s. On leaving Deir-el-Bahari, a youth accosted me and offered another small vase, similar to the first one. This I bought for 3s., wrapped it up carefully, placed it in my pocket, and a moment later bent over my saddle and smashed it. However, the first one was safe.
On my return to Luxor I found in an antiquity shop a whole string of them at 2s. each, the proprietor being open to a deal. They are made of soft material, gir, a kind of native mortar, and will stand very little rough usage.
Most of the porcelain objects are supposed to date from the eighteenth dynasty, but up to the present I have not seen in any museum a genuine antiquity similar to the small blue vase. The possibility is that the Arabs may have one, which they are using as a pattern in the manufacture, or this style might even be a creation of their own.
On the same [Plate] is a bottle (No. 1), with two handles, and two monkeys sitting on each side of the neck, also made of porcelain; but it has a thick glaze over it, and has been buried for some time in a heap of manure taken from the courtyard of the house, which was fresh enough for active chemical action to take place, and the effect of this is well shown on the bottle.
Nos. 3, 7, and 8 are of the same period, and have a peculiarity common to the previous one also—namely, they are all extremely light in weight, and are made by the same maker.
No. 2 is a jar with a handle, made of wood and painted. It is partly hollowed out, and the wood is new.
A sealed jar, made of wood, and painted to represent stone; period, 20th dynasty. It was produced by the same maker as No. 2, [Plate X].
The blue bowl ([Plate X], No. 5) is very pretty. It was not made on a wheel, but modelled first and then glazed. The material is a soft brownish gir, or lime mixed with very fine sand. These bowls are very fragile, and are held together by the glaze.
On [Plate XI] we have some examples of blue porcelain. Nos. 1 and 9 represent the Goddess Taurt, who was usually shown as a hippopotamus, and was supposed to have been the wife of Set.
No. 2 is an unusual form of jar with rudimentary spout.
No. 3 is a small Anubis figure.
No. 4 represents a porcelain boat with a ram’s head on the bow.
No. 5 is a pectoral which was placed on the chest of the mummy, and should have a scarab in the opening.
No. 6 is the girdle buckle of Isis, and was placed on the neck of the mummy. It is not correctly shaped and should not be cut straight off across the bottom.
No. 7 is a small papyrus cup with reeds shown upon it, but very roughly done.
No. 8 is a ram-headed hawk bearing the sun disk; it is composed of soft plaster painted over and very badly shaped.
The above figures would be known as forgeries from the softness of the material used, and from the glaze being too glossy.
A Hawk’s Head. The lid of a canopic jar.
The blue canopic jar shown in the frontispiece and the top of another, a hawk’s head, represented in the above line engraving, were, after prolonged bargaining, bought for 7s. and 6s. each. The seller, an up-river man, took a most solemn oath that they were old, but that the glaze was new. When I pinned him down to definite statements, he explained to me that he meant that the earth of which they were composed was old; which of course is true, but that is not the sense in which the ordinary buyer would understand it. With this reservation he would feel himself at liberty to take the most solemn oaths that, with the exception of the glaze, his specimens were really old.
As I have said, the forgers are now also in the habit of melting the old glass fragments and pieces of glaze, and using it to recolour their productions.
In some of the antiquity shops in Luxor there may be seen cases containing admitted imitations of ancient pottery ware. The prices asked for these imitations are from £l 10s. to £3 each. When I pointed out to the dealer that this was a stiff price to pay for what was an admitted forgery, he indignantly denied any intention of fraud, and declared that these objects were artistic in design and execution, and well worth the money he asked for them. One cannot help feeling, however, that should an unwary tourist or an ignorant collector arrive on the scene, it is possible that he might become the possessor of one of these porcelain objects without having any idea that it was not a genuine antiquity.
PLATE X.
PORCELAIN, WOOD AND GLASS.
1. Bottle with two handles.
2. Wooden jar with handle.
3, 7 & 8. Vases made of composition and coloured.
4. A glass figure made to represent Lapis Lazuli.
5. Blue bowl.
6. Blue vase.
On [Plate XII] are shown some very beautiful objects. No. 3 is a winged scarab, which represented the sun crossing the heavens from east to west within a day. It is a fine piece of work, but is made of plaster of Paris and painted.
No. 2 shows a lotus cup, well designed, copied from the original, and made of soft composition, but spoilt in the firing. This, however, gives the effect of age. It is beautifully coloured, and the date is about the eighteenth dynasty. By the side of it is a lotus bowl (No. 1) made by the same maker. These are really charming objects of interest, and are very cleverly made; the shape, however, is not quite right. Large sums of money were asked for them, but they were purchased for a few shillings each at the end of the season, when the up-river men were anxious to go home to their villages, and did not want to take back any unsold goods with them on their long journey, preferring during the summer to make fresh objects for the next season.
[Plate XII], No. 4 is a blue jug having a piece of genuine mummy cloth stuffed in it. It was offered to me at Deir-el-Bahari. The seller asked £1 for it, but after some bargaining I bought it for 5s. It is made of very soft material and irregularly glazed.
No. 5 shows a false-necked bottle. This is a good copy and has also been buried in manure.
[Plate XIII], No. 1 is a well-made winged scarab, but the four little figures, 2, 3, 4, 5, representing the sons of Horus, are not correct, as the faces should be those of a man, a dog-faced ape, a jackal, and a hawk; 6 and 8 are poppy heads, of beautiful colour.
No. 7. The egg-shaped object represents sacred eyes. It is composed of soft material, is a very exact copy, and must have been most difficult to make.
Small rough model of an Ibis, in Porcelain
There is a small blue-and-black porcelain ball also made and sold, but so soft is the material of which they are composed, that I failed to get one home in safety.
Nos. 10 and 13 are two pectorals, one with the Hathor cow represented on it; the smaller one, which is extremely well made, bears the cartouche of Thothmes III., and has fixed upon it, near the top, a piece of an ancient bead—a clever idea and one well calculated to take in the unwary.
Hathor
No. 11 is a blue lotus vase, made of soft material, and unevenly glazed.
No. 12. This small bottle can hardly be called a forgery, and is well described by Wilkinson, who says:
“Years ago some small bottles, having upon them Chinese inscriptions, were found in some tombs. These were held to establish a link between China and the ancient Egyptians. It is now known, however, that these bottles are of a comparatively recent period. M. Prisse discovered, by dint of questioning the Arabs of Cairo who were engaged in selling objects of antiquity, that the bottles were never found in tombs, and that the greater part of them came from Tous, Keft, and Kosseir, depôts of commerce with India on the Red Sea. The quality of these bottles is very inferior, and they appear to have been made before the manufacture of porcelain had attained the same degree of perfection in China as in after times. The interpretation of the inscriptions on some of these bottles has been given by Medhurst, and they are verses of poets who flourished in the seventh or eighth centuries A.D.”
PLATE XI.
BLUE PORCELAIN.
1 & 9. Represent the Goddess Taurt.
2. Jar with spout.
3. Anubis figure.
4. Boat with ram’s head.
5. Pectoral.
6. Buckle of Isis.
7. Lotus cup.
8. Ram-headed hawk.
The line engraving on page 108 represents a jar made of serpentine. It differs somewhat in shape from the originals, and has been made in two parts and then stuck together. The join is clearly shown in the illustration.
Jar made of serpentine
Two years ago I saw four granite bowls in a shop at Luxor. They were magnificent specimens, large and beautifully made, and seemed indeed objects to be coveted. The price asked was £250 each, or £1000 for the four. At first I looked at them with awe and admiration, but on making a careful examination, I found that they showed none of the small irregularities which are found on the old work, and that their edges were too clean cut. It seemed as if they must have been made, buried, and forgotten at once, as there were no signs of wear upon them. While handling them I felt sure that they were not genuine, but the work of some very clever sculptor, perhaps an Italian, for many of the latter were employed in working granite at the barrage at Aswan, and they are adepts in the art of working the harder stones. Last year I was again in Luxor, and, possessing somewhat more knowledge of antiquities, I called upon the dealer and asked to see the bowls again. He had sold them, but he told me, in a deprecating manner, clasping and unclasping his hands as though the luck had been too great and undeserved, that he had been fortunate enough to get three more, just like them. These he produced, and beautiful specimens indeed they were, but without committing myself too definitely, I should question very much their genuineness. But this man will sell them, as he sold the other four. Some one will buy them and take them to America or England, or some other country, and after a time they will, perhaps, find their way to a museum, where there will be whispered consultations amongst the experts, and queries as to the wisdom of looking a gift horse in the mouth.
Or it may be that they will adorn a private collection, in which case, sooner or later, some unfortunate Egyptologist will be brought face to face with them, and will have to make his escape the best way he can.
Think of what it means to this man at Luxor. Out of these seven bowls, he may make, allowing for the cost of producing them, about £1600 profit. He can buy about twelve acres of ground, perhaps more, for this sum. If he farms it himself, he may make as much as £300 a year from this. If he lets it out, preferring to sit in idleness and play the part of a big man, he will find his income increased by about £120 a year through this little transaction. This means that he is a comparatively rich man.
PLATE XII.
PORCELAIN.
1 & 2. Lotus bowl and cup.
3. Winged scarab.
4. Blue jug with a piece of mummy cloth in it.
5. False-necked bottle.
Granite bowls offered for sale by vendors of antiquities are frequently made up of fragments. Perhaps, when the bowl was discovered, a third part of it may have been missing, but a few bits were found from time to time, and these were carefully preserved and put away. On turning over heaps of debris, more bits are found, and when there are sufficient pieces the missing part of the bowl is made up of composition or wax, and the fragments stuck in in such a way as to reproduce the characteristics of the stone. Then the whole is carefully rubbed with dirt, and set to harden. Later on, a tourist pays £10 or £20 for that which is in part a real antiquity, but in part is only composition.
I remember seeing in a museum two bowls which had fallen to pieces since they had been placed in the case. It was supposed that the influence of the air had caused them to crumble away, but this was not so. They had been made up with wax. The museum authorities had bought them from a dealer, and for years they had stood in the case. Then the wax gave way, and they fell to pieces. Examination with a glass showed mould on the wax.
I have repeatedly been offered similar bowls, and at first I found it difficult to tell which was the made-up part. One way is to engage the seller’s attention with something else, and then scratch the suspected part with the finger nail, or some other suitable instrument. It is quite certain that the finger nail will not make an impression on granite, so that, if an indentation or a scratch appears, you may be sure that the bowl is made up; but if the material used to make up the bowl is scagliola, it becomes more difficult to tell, and you may require the aid of a powerful magnifying glass before the fraud can be detected.
The Goddess Taurt
PLATE XIII.
BLUE PORCELAIN.
1 A winged scarab.
2, 3, 4 & 5. The four genii.
6 & 8. Poppy heads.
7. Sacred eyes.
9. Chinese bottle.
10 & 13. Pectorals.
11. Lotus vase.
14. Winged scarab.
CHAPTER X
MUMMIES AND MUMMY CASES
It may be thought hardly possible that the makers of spurious antiquities could copy the mummies and their cases. And yet there is no doubt that this has been done. In the tale told by Dr. G. A. Reisner in the next chapter, he mentions that in a tomb which had been “faked up,” there were coffins and other objects.
Recently a gentleman became possessed with the idea of obtaining a mummy in its case. He spoke of this openly, and on several occasions was warned to be careful, or he would be imposed upon. People rarely thank one, however, for such advice, preferring to believe the smiling, plausible, ready-tongued dragoman or dealer, with whom they are in negotiation. Indeed, sometimes advice given under these circumstances tends to bring about a certain coolness, and the expert may have reason to regret, by the loss of cordial relations, that he had ever attempted to save his friend from an act of folly. The gentleman in question desired to present to his native town a mummy in its case, and, though warned, persisted in carrying on the negotiations. Eventually a handsome case, containing what appeared to be a genuine mummy, was submitted to him. The price finally agreed upon was £200. A little later, an Egyptologist saw the case, and without hesitation pronounced it to be a forgery.
The man who sold me the wooden figures seen in [Plate III], told me with great glee that he had made mummy cases from bits of old mummy cases and other wood. One he sold to an American for £4, and when, later on, this American showed it to the authorities of a museum, he was at once offered £12 for it. However, he was so pleased with his bargain that he refused the offer.
[Plate XIV] shows a piece of new wood made up to represent a piece of genuine mummy case.