Safe of Mummies.

Auckland Star, Volume XXIV, Issue 178, 29 July 1893, Page 4 (Supplement)

Safe of Mummies.

An English paper says : — Crematk> n

will continue to have strong opponents among provident people who desire to be of some pecuniary value to their successors so long as bids, such as were given in the Messrs Sotheby's salerooms, are forthcoming. The centre of attraction there was a lob described as ' a fine female mummy.' Of coursethetype of femalebeauty which pleased Cheops and Cephrones is slightly out of date now, but, nevertheless, the lady in question must have had a good figure, judging from the shape of her encasement, and been pretty well connected, as the hieroglyphics on her outside testified. As her name and lineage are unknown, the price she realised may be taken as a fair estimate of her intrinsic value, without the meretricious graces she may in former times have possessed. This exceedingly fine person was the subject of a good deal of competition, and ultimately she realised the tidy little sum of £24 3s. Another mummy —apparently a priestess—who had not resisted the ravages of time so successfully, went for £9. A few more grim relics were dispersed at) the same sale, such as the head of a Maori chief, elaborately tatooed (£lO ss), and the sun-dried cranium of an English sailor, named James Smith, who was killed by the natives of a South Pacific island (£3 12s). A rare specimen of the Irish harp, dated 1734, sold for £8 10s.