EGYPTIAN WAX PORTRAITS.

Timaru Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 4679, 26 October 1889, Page 4

EGYPTIAN WAX PORTRAITS.

W)..-n th" id< dirr.4 re id m Pliny of the

„;'r •Wire.- <-f cxc-rllrh-et... which Ore' k a rlf. ii. 'I atMin.il m Lit d-iy, arid of the j.ri.-i ■ .me of tlnir works fetched, CjuWnUnt <o L'M,""" or £12,000 of our money, »chohr< anil other competent Biith r:lie« dismissed fr.-,,- .19 tr.irell.-iV tile,. They could not brirr* thcm-elves to be'.i-rs Hint these .torici w.-r- ni.-, or lint Ruben", Uolbein, Sir Tlr ». Lawrence, nnd otlicr later eidebriti'i, lmd Kc-ii ai.ti-ip.le I, if r.ot surpassed, m tin-c.-r.'-.ri- *r,..f.,r.- Ill'- Christian en. Am! yet it n .» "■. ar.d l-linv no n.o'o than Herodotus (!. .-rv. <\ to b- railed t lie f.i'hr-rof liira. The ruiT.j circn up their il'-ad,ftnd rnTcnled !- r-!. which it »«■ thought f-a-lber-n forever bidden intheton.b. Tt is fromth<-I*n<l of Rgypt ti, it the. c di"coTer:r>s cine. The exploration or. the file of M-it>phi« anil I'hi-brj bad pr.'parftl the way for tbn (iifuTeriej m t)i« fiT'i*ir.ri> of Faijuni. Tlice consint of a ii;«i.>..-r of portrnit« found m the fftn'i at Kiilriijit. w!,ici. are m tbo po««r'«!on of 1 hi-- dor Oraf m Vi'-nni, and nro nn» on view nt tlii' Hocirt" il'Fncourafeem'nt p-mr !'ln dtn'rie N.tlionaii?, U, I'w (It Hhiuh. Accr'Sinf to tbe ancient Kyyptian cuiUini, tbe c-iur.l'-n-ir r<. of tliß drcrmrrl w.-n r.-pre«er;ted nt the bead of the mummy <r roflin. lbi» ri.^tr.m wiKH'lliorcd to m the drf.-rj-Ronmn f | o I, :,f !-2t[.t. bn' in-tfu'l of tlic t.ln'ti" br-.-l, wbi-'. up to tUt 'i '0 b-id be.-n r.lor.e i.-i u-s, n piititini; w»i S'lbftit.utcd, ri-priMfiit-v v -i r.nl p-Ttr.it of tbo ilrnvnl, Tlieja | orlr ii., vr),ii-ii w/-.-» pninl-") on a f bin pai.-el of •wood, we fluid OTtrtlisface if the iniimrnic", tl.i- oiit,-r bvid,ii!r-j i.f tbr cliro'Kl, l;eini» tb<n ■srtappr-1 about ilkiii so ni to ciror orcr tbni'irpn of tbe pictur-*, tho latter slono hcinir lrf 1 . iiii!>le. A mummy of tbi« kind, therefore, pr'fentcd tbe nppesranco of a liTing bo'lv, looking out of «n oprning m tinfiandiiyi f'.r tbo virtirors to gnus np-in m the i-.ffirH, !ho lil< of wliirli wern m i'lc In be Ilirown birk for tbo purp'ite. Tim only other £;ra»ei wbero Ibero curioui pictoriil works li*T" hpi>n found were opened m tbp wiiitir -,f 18.57 88 br tbo Kngli.b cn K ineer, Mr lhirin. „t lln»ard. but tb» pieliirrn di«. covered m t liem nrn paid to be not nearly f <|iiul to tbe fperiment ditr^tered at Rntnijnt. Tbe loml>« tbenrelve", built m tbo rocki, ■»rr,. rinTuked aarn "go by 1!i!pto«, «lm. m tb.ir .e-irei. for po!d. destroyed both rofilni and mnmmi«. I wV,',y, Hi* 'pilferer, deemed tb.. (.i.-tiire. to b.-of i:.i vjtie, ..itbey wern thrown n»»y— bul nut to peruli — m ll,r dry dti«'. of the dtivrt. Herf OrofV. colleclioi) numbers 9^ specimens of Tarytag inlerctt m

point of execution, but, all valuable as works •if art. Tl'i-y are portraits on cypress wood the more ancient being painted m wax colours, laid on with the cestrum or epitulu, a. l^rct-t-shaped instm-neut. — tho liitpr jpeciniens being produced by water colours, to which was added the yolk and white of eggs, or other resinous binding substances. The painting with wax was done without usiug the brush, the ancients being ignorant of the proceei of dissolving wax m turpentine. On examining these row* of heads gaiing calmly out. of Urge lustrous eyes, shut now over 2000 years, one seems to bo brought face to face with the past of humanity m a more real way than has hitherto been m our power. One ii also struck with the modern look 0? many of these ancient portraits. There is a faco of an old man of wonderful force of character and intellectual power. The painter llenzel, of Berlin, has declared that nothiug finer than this haa been done m portrait painting. The female faces arc nearly all tinged with melancholy, but some oro of great beauty, ' and they' almost without exception reveal traces of" the distinction of , tho originals. 1 There ii a Terr modern head of an old lady ■ with short grey" locks. The Gdolity of exo- ' cution m these paintings ii so great that doctors have been ablo to detect tho exist--1 enco of dropsy. Tho French Government is ' m treaty for tho collection, the valuo of which is estimated at about £-10,000.