Skip to main content

Cartonnage Mask: E.198.1903

An image of Mummy mask

Terms of use

These images are provided for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons License (BY-NC-ND). To license a high resolution version, please contact our image library who will discuss fees, terms and waivers.

Download this image

Creative commons explained - what it means, how you can use our's and other people's content.

Alternative views

Object information

Current Location: Gallery 19

Titles

Cartonnage Mask

Entities

Categories

Description

Cartonnage mask of a man called Tjay with painted facial details including broad eyebrows, eyes, beard and moustache. The mask is made from a layer of white calcite paste covered with scraps of linen impregnated with plant gum. A final paste layer was applied over this, and the ears were modelled in paste. The yellow flesh is painted with an arsenic pigment, probably orpiment. The corners of the eyes are painted with red earth and the cosmetic lines with Egyptian blue.

This mask was lying over the face of Tjay’s mummy, found undisturbed in his coffin in tomb 275 at Beni Hasan. By the end of the First Intermediate Period (about 2010 BC), the ideal form of the dead, known as ‘sah’ in ancient Egyptian, was a mummy wrapped in white linen with a mask covering his face.

Measurements and weight

Height: 27.5 cm
Width: 19 cm

Place(s) associated

  • Beni Hasan ⪼ Beni Hasan ⪼ Egypt

Find spot

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Given (1903) by The Beni Hasan Excavation Committee

Dating

Eleventh Dynasty
Middle Kingdom
-2055 BCE - -1985 BCE

Materials used in production

Linen
Plaster

Techniques used in production

Cartonnage : Painted

References and bibliographic entries

Related exhibitions

Identification numbers

Accession number: E.198.1903
Primary reference Number: 50810
Oldadmincategory: Misc
Stable URI

Audit data

Created: Saturday 6 August 2011 Updated: Thursday 11 March 2021 Last processed: Wednesday 28 February 2024

Associated departments & institutions

Owner or interested party: The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department: Antiquities

Citation for print

This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:

The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "Cartonnage Mask" Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/50810 Accessed: 2024-12-03 17:38:59

Citation for Wikipedia

To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:

{{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/50810 |title=Cartonnage Mask |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-12-03 17:38:59|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

API call for this record

To call these data via our API (remember this needs to be authenticated) you can use this code snippet:

https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/api/v1/objects/object-50810

Bootstrap HTML code for reuse

To use this as a simple code embed, copy this string:

<div class="text-center">
    <figure class="figure">
        <img src="https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/ant/ant48/E_198_1903_1_201507_adn21_dc2.jpg"
        alt="Cartonnage Mask"
        class="img-fluid" />
        <figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">Cartonnage Mask</figcaption>
    </figure>
</div>
    

Sign up for updates

Updates about future exhibitions and displays, family activities, virtual events & news. You'll be the first to know...