Scene of Metal Workers, Tomb of Rekhmire
ca. 1504–1425 B.C.
Medium
Tempera on paper
Dimensions
facsimile: h. 57.5 cm (22 5/8 in); w. 54 cm (21 1/4 in), scale: 1:1
Classification
Facsimile, metal work, bellows, Rekhmire (TT 100)
Period
New Kingdom
Department
Egyptian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, 1931
Accession Number
31.6.11
Art Historical Context
Step into the bustling workshops of ancient Egypt with *Scene of Metal Workers* from the Tomb of Rekhmire, a vivid facsimile capturing the artistry of the New Kingdom's 18th Dynasty (ca. 1504–1425 B.C.). This detailed scene, originally painted on the walls of Theban Tomb 100, depicts skilled artisans hammering, casting, and polishing metal—likely bronze tools and vessels—highlighting the sophisticated craftsmanship that powered Egypt's golden age under pharaohs like Thutmose III. Rekhmire, the tomb's owner and a powerful vizier, showcased such everyday labors to affirm his role in overseeing t...
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...