Women at a Banquet
A.D. 1925; original ca. 1479–1425 B.C.
Medium
Tempera on paper
Dimensions
Image: H. 47.5 × W. 66.5 cm (18 11/16 × 26 3/16 in.), scale 1:1; Framed: 51.1 × 70.2 cm (20 1/8 × 27 5/8 in.)
Classification
Facsimile, Rekhmire (TT 100), banquet; Drink-and-be-Merry
Period
Twentieth Century; original New Kingdom
Department
Egyptian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, 1930
Accession Number
30.4.78
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the lively world of ancient Egypt with *Women at a Banquet*, a meticulous 1925 tempera-on-paper copy by Nina de Garis. This vivid reproduction captures a scene from the New Kingdom tomb of Rekhmire, a powerful vizier of Dynasty 18 (ca. 1479–1425 B.C.), at full scale (47.5 × 66.5 cm). Davies, a renowned early 20th-century artist specialized in faithfully recreating fragile Egyptian wall paintings, preserving their colors and details for modern viewers. The original fresco depicts elegant women reveling at a banquet, embodying the "Drink-and-Be-Merry" ethos of elite Egyptian society. ...
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...