Posted on 03/27/2006 11:09:33 AM PST by SunkenCiv
Two men have been bailed by police investigating the alleged forgery of a valuable Egyptian statue.
The 3,300-year-old Amarna Princess was bought by Bolton Museum nearly three years ago for £440,000 to add to its existing Egyptology collection.
The 52cm-high sculpture is believed to be one of the daughters of the Pharaoh Akhenaten and his queen, Nefertiti.
Metropolitan Police Art & Antiques Unit arrested two Bolton men aged 83 and 46 on suspicion of forgery last week.
They have been bailed until May pending further inquiries.
The statue, which was acquired in September 2003, has been removed from public view.
It was bought by the museum form a local family in Bolton, Greater Manchester, who wanted to remain anonymous.
Detectives from London also seized an artefact from the British Museum which had been taken there for an examination by experts.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.bbc.co.uk ...
The ancient Egypt statue from Bolton (circa 2003)The Amarna Princess, described as being a representation of the half-sister of King Tutankhamun, had impressed the British Museum and Bolton Museum because of its detailed provenance. The anonymous vendor claimed that his great-grandfather had bought it at the auction of the property of the Earl of Egremont in 1892.
by Jack Malvern
Arts Reporter
The Times
March 27, 2006
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It would be ironic if the forgery wasn't their work, but was instead a forgery from ancient times of a real statue.
Me? About $40 is tops...
As I heard recently, Michaelangelo got his start selling fakes. He got enough to travel to where the action, and the big boys were...
Pretentious people are a dime a dozen. Cheap, pretentious people are a penny a score.
If you doubt it, check out this thread about Thos. Kinkade. :) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1602815/posts
looks like a Victoria's Secret window display model ...
"Hillary!" is the first thing that crossed my mind.
It obviously worked for a while.
Thomas Kinkade painted scenery backdrops for show biz, and it shows. :')
As I mentioned on that thread---I'd settle for Kinkade's talent. :)
Or, equally ironic, if the statue is a genuine artifact unearthed by grave robbers provided with a forged provenance..
But it doesn't even look Egyptian. Should have made an actual researcher more alert. What's next, ancient Egyptian pink plastic bracelets?
The statue is in a style that greek and romans may have loved, but Egyptians portrayed their females always thin.
They also wouldn't display their princess freakin naked.
Actually, Amarna period art in particular DID portray nudes, and the thunder thighs are also VERY characteristic and diagnostic of Amarna period art. If truly fake, this one is remarkably well done.
Ancient Egyptian art portrayed nudes, but most of that stuff has not survived 14 centuries of Moslem occupation. The sky goddess Nut was portrayed nude, and the Earth god Geb shown with a great big boner underneath, at least one example of that survives (because I've seen a photo). Most surviving representations don't have that much detail. Reproductions made in Egypt of ancient papyri have no nudity at all.
with the naughty bits:
http://www.thekeep.org/~kunoichi/kunoichi/egypt/nutgeb.jpg
http://users.bigpond.net.au/bstone/images/Nut1.JPG
http://homepage.mac.com/scarab1/graphics/bgrounds/NUTnGEB.JPG
an unusual (ahem) variant, also naughty:
http://www.thekeep.org/~kunoichi/kunoichi/themestream/creation_sexuality.jpg
more common, with just stylized nudity:
http://members.tripod.com/~ib205/gods/nut.jpg
http://www.sacred-texts.com/earth/boe/img/pl09.jpg
http://www.thekeep.org/~kunoichi/kunoichi/themestream/nut_shu_geb.jpg http://www.nemo.nu/ibisportal/0egyptintro/1egypt/gudasidor/gudabilder/1mut.jpg
a "69" version seen on Hope College' website:
http://www.hope.edu/bandstra/RTOT/CH1/COSMOS.JPG
modern version:
http://paganastronomy.net/nut.gif
a cryptofeminist modern version, without Geb:
http://www.theopticnerve.com/Images/nut-acrylic.jpg
Akhenaten and family, with the Aten:
http://www.tourism-egypt.com.eg/photos/amarna2.jpg
from an old file:
The Pharaoh’s Clothing Measurement of Garments Reveals a King’s Wide Hips
By Maggie Owens
ABCNEWS’ Willow Lawson contributed to this report.
http://www.abcnews.go.com/sections/science/DailyNews/kingtut_clothing000808.html
August 8 — A little digging has uncovered some of King Tut’s belongings — and an examination of the king’s clothing suggests the pharaoh had a physique shaped something like a pear.
That link doesn't work.
Are there any examples of princesses being portrayed nude?
I mean a goddess is ofcourse different, more etherial.
Also, that the pharaos where a bit wide at the midsection i know, at least Tutankhamon, his father and mother, and sisters. It may even have been a deformity and not just obesity, i heard it may be genetic (inbreeding). Since the shape is not really what you would expect from classic obesity, as the faces are still portrayed thin. Other royalty may have had the same, but Tutankhamon's family are suspected to be the first to portray themselves realistically instead of He-man/woman versions of themselves.
Im not convinced that an Egyptian princess would be portrayed with wide hips, contrary to images engraved on steles, and in the nude.
Yes, the Amarna art is lousy with nudity. As I said, nudity and big thighs is diagnostic of Amarna art. :') As far as deformity, it has been suggested that Akhenaten had Marfan's Syndrome.
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