Carpenter Making a Chair, Tomb of Rekhmire
ca. 1479–1400 B.C.
Medium
Tempera on paper
Dimensions
facsimile: h. 30 cm (11 13/16 in); w. 41 cm (16 1/8 in); scale 1:1; framed: h. 33 cm (13 in); w. 44.5 cm (17 1/2 in)
Classification
Facsimile, Rekhmire (TT 100), carpenter, bow drill
Period
New Kingdom
Department
Egyptian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, 1931
Accession Number
31.6.29
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into ancient Egypt with *Carpenter Making a Chair* from the Tomb of Rekire, a vivid facsimile created by Nina de Garis. Dating to the New Kingdom's Dynasty 18 (ca. 1479–1400 B.C.), this originates from the elaborate tomb of Rekhmire, a powerful vizier under pharaohs Thutmose III and Amenep II in Thebes. Egyptian tomb walls like these were designed to immortalize daily life, ensuring the deceased's eternal comfort through depictions of essential trades and activities. Rendered in tempera on paper at a precise 1:1 scale, Davies's meticulous copy captures the original's flat, iconic style—c...
About the Artist
Nina de Garis Davies · 1881–1965
Nina de Garis Davies, born Anna Macpherson Cummings on January 6, 1881, in Salonika, Greece, to English-Scottish parents Cecil J. Cummings and Sarah Macintosh Tannoch, showed early artistic talent as the eldest of three daughters. After her father's death in 1894, the family relocated to Scotland and then London, where she trained at the Slade School of Art. In 1906, at age 25, a holiday trip to E...