Women at a Banquet

Created circa 1931 by Egyptologist and illustrator Nina M. Davies, Women at a Banquet is a modestly sized painting that records a domestic scene drawn from Egyptian tomb art. The work forms part of the Davies duo’s extensive visual archive of early‑20th‑century Egyptian wall paintings, intended as a scholarly reference rather than a decorative piece.

Rendered in a flat, simplified manner, the figures are painted in warm yellow‑brown tones with minimal shading. Straight‑lined wigs and modest jewelry define the attire, while the background is largely plain, punctuated only by faint hieroglyphic‑like symbols that echo the decorative language of ancient tomb walls.

The image reflects the scholarly practice of the period, wherein artists created precise visual records to accompany archaeological reports. By adopting a stylized, almost schematic approach, Davies emphasized the formal qualities of the original tomb scenes rather than striving for painterly realism.

Women at a Banquet continues to serve as a reference point for researchers studying Egyptian domestic iconography and the visual conventions employed by early Egyptologists. It illustrates how artistic reproduction contributed to the preservation and interpretation of ancient visual culture.