TAA i.3.6.15

COPY      Notes made by Mrs. de Garis Davies in January/February 1951 on the caskets 

                 of Tutankhamun which she painted: nos. 21 and 540/551.

CASKET 21

Notes on the end panel of Tutankhamun’s painted casket – the king as a 

sphinx treading down his enemies.

          The almost entire absence of red except for sketch lines and a few

outlines is peculiar. I[?] Instead of the sequence in patterns blue-green, blue

red-blue, there is blue, green, blue, yellow, blue. The yellow is granular in

texture when applied thickly and transparent when used as a wash over white,

as in the cartouches. It seems to be orpiment which has almost the effect 

of gold dust (cf. touches on Princesses in Ashmolean). The paraffin wax

applied by Carter to preserve the casket has undoubtedly darkened the blues

and greens which had already darkened with age. So the present colours do not

correspond to those originally put on. It is very difficult to determine

what was dark blue – so near to black has it become. The greens too have only

here and there their real tint. I have tried to show the difference between 

blue and black (without getting too far from the present colouring) which one

knows from the usual colours employed on such representations but whether the

king’s beard, eyebrows and eyes were blue or black it is impossible to deter-

mine now. The ground throughout was ivory white, now much overlaid with

brownish yellow due to wax partly and also to effects of time. See notes

of colour on tracing (not quite that of original nor present tints) for 

borders not recorded in paintings. [The white spots of necklaces and pendants

shown in the photograph before the casket was waxed can now scarcely be seen 

at all. This refers to the battle with the Negroes.]

          The square legs of the casket, like the interior are deep blue-green.

The wooden knob above the scene on the other side to that painted (where the

knob is missing) has also been covered with white gesso now as/<l>most gone showing

the wood beneath. A trace of decoration in red outline is visible. Here

the king wears a round wig with a yellow ribbon with blue spots. It is not

easy to say whether the wig was dark blue or black. The surmounting atef crown

has similar colours to that on the other side. Decoration on back of sphinx

is bands of blue green or yellow instead of spots of these colours as on the

other side.

          Negroes similar to other side.

          Syrians blue and green bands and spots on yellow.

          There are almost invisible details on the claws of the sphinx in

yellow paint.

Scene of battle with Negroes

          Most of the figures of Negroes are painted a dark brownish red (red

mixed with black). This is light enough to be outlined with black. Where the

figures are painted black the red sketch lines show beyond the black in many

places. The painter was at a loss to show the drawing of the features especially

when full-face, so very summary touches of red or reddish yellow indicate eyes,

lips etc. Sometimes these are so faint and overlaid with black as to be

scarcely visible except in some lights. No outlines except white could of

course show up against the black. Again the yellows are laid on very thickly