Artwork
Sculptors at Work, Tomb of Rekhmire
Sculptors at Work, Tomb of Rekhmire is an unspecified painting by the Byzantine icon painting artist Nina M. Davies. It dates from 1490 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Nina M.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The work depicts a scene of sculptors actively engaged in their craft, illustrating the daily labour and specialized skills of ancient Egyptian workshops.
The work depicts a scene of sculptors actively engaged in their craft, illustrating the daily labour and specialized skills of ancient Egyptian workshops. As a facsimile of a painting in the Tomb of Rekhmire (TT 100), the imagery serves as a visual record of the artisans' processes, capturing figures at work alongside the sculptures they are creating. Within a noble's tomb, such a scene of skilled labour symbolizes the perpetual provision of craftsmanship for the deceased in the afterlife, transforming an occupational activity into a significant iconographic element celebrating the dignity of work.
Technique & Style
The work is a facsimile painting created by the copyist Nina M. Davies, reproducing a scene originally located in the Tomb of Rekhmire (TT 100), whose decoration dates to approximately 1490 BCE. As a two-dimensional work, the piece depicts sculptors in the act of creating sculpture, capturing the artisans and their tools within the context of ancient Egyptian workshop practices. It is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
The style faithfully follows the conventions of the original tomb decoration, preserving the composition and subject matter of the historical source.
History & Provenance
Sculptors at Work, Tomb of Rekhmire is a facsimile by Nina M. Davies reproducing a scene in the Tomb of Rekhmire (TT 100), whose original decoration dates to approximately 1490 BCE. The facsimile was produced for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it is held under the accession number 30.4.90. The work documents the ancient artisans and their tools as they appear in the tomb's painted decoration, preserving a visual record of New Kingdom artistic practice. No dedicated exhibition history is documented in the available sources.
Overview
Nina M. Davies, an Egyptologist and illustrator, created Sculptors at Work, Tomb of Rekhmire as a painting documenting an ancient Egyptian scene. This work, held by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, captures a workshop environment from the Tomb of Rekhmire, dating to approximately 1490 BCE. Davies, alongside her husband, was instrumental in reproducing ancient Egyptian tomb decorations, contributing significantly to the study of the period's artistic practices.
Artist & collection
Artist
The Egyptologists Nina M. Davies (6 January 1881 – 21 April 1965) and Norman de Garis Davies (1865–5 November 1941) were a married couple of illustrators and copyists who worked in the early and mid-twentieth century…
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