Antique copperplate engraving of Egyptian ibis mummies, engraved by Benedetto Eredi after the original by Vivant Denon. “Mummie d’Ibis” is plate 82 from Viaggio nel Basso ed Alto Egitto (Journey in Lower and Upper Egypt), published in Florence by Giuseppe Tofani, 1808. This was the first Italian edition of Denon’s account of Napoleon’s Egyptian campaign, first published in Paris in 1802 (an example of the French plate is in the collection of the Royal Academy of Arts, London).
The upper half of the sheet shows the contents of an unwrapped ibis mummy bundle: skull, beak, limbs and magical charms. Below, ten mummies in a range of styles sit on a stone ledge, from sealed pottery jar to bandaged bundle to one unwrapped enough to show the skeleton.
Condition is fair... foxing and discoloration, edge roughness including folds and small tears, and tack holes at both top and bottom. The platemark is strong and the margins are full.
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