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DEACESSIONED October 12, 2023
Child's coffin
Egyptian
New Kingdom, Dynasty 19
1295–1186 B.C.
Findspot: Egypt, Amada
Medium/Technique
Pottery
Dimensions
Height: 110 cm (43 5/16 in.)
Credit Line
Helen and Alice Colburn Fund
Accession Number1985.808
CollectionsAncient Egypt, Nubia and the Near East
ClassificationsTomb equipment – Coffins and sarcophagi
DescriptionPottery coffin of a boy named Paneferneb. The coffin is wheel-made of an alluvial clay, and the face and chest are part of a removable plate that allowed the introduction of the body. The head end is capped by a blue and yellow striped headdress bound by a headband of lotus petals with a pendant blue lotus flower. The face and crossed hands are painted red, and an elaborate floral collar of blue lotus petals covers the chest. Below, pairs of wadjet eyes, lotus flowers and Anubis jackals flank a figure of the goddess Nut with her wings outstretched. The lower portion of the coffin is divided into four panels, the uper two showing the god Osiris and the lower two portraying the Four Sons of Horus. The bands of hieroglyphic text separates the panels. The hieroglyphs read: Dd mdw n Wsir nb nHH HqA Dt xnty Imnty
Provenance1920, excavated at Gurob, Egypt (Grave 275) by the British School of Archaeology in Egypt [see note 1]; 1922, sent in the division of finds to Victoria Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, now part of the Gustavianum, Uppsala University Museum, Sweden (inv. no. VM 1962); by about 1970, probably stolen from the Gustavianum [see note 2]. 1985, sold by Olof S. Liden, La Cañada, CA, to the MFA [see note 3] (Accession Date: November 27, 1985); October 11, 2023, deaccessioned by the MFA for return to the Gustavianum.
NOTES:
[1] The coffin was scientifically excavated in 1920 at Gurob by the British School of Archaeology in Egypt, after which it was sent to Uppsala, Sweden. See Unseen Images: archive photographs in the Petrie Museum, ed. Janet Picton and Ivor Pridden (London, 2008), p. 54-55.
[2] The Victoria Museum of Egyptian Antiquities received the coffin in 1922 and registered it. As of about 1970, the coffin could not be located.
[3] Liden claimed to represent the owner, the Swedish artist Eric Ståhl (1918 – 1999). He sent the MFA a letter purportedly written by Ståhl, which describes how he excavated the coffin himself at Amada, Egypt, in 1937. Ståhl, however, is not known to have participated in any excavations in Egypt. Upon close inspection of the letter, what the writer describes does not match the ceramic coffin. Liden also provided the MFA with authentications for the coffin from experts in Sweden (dated 1983/1984) that now appear to be falsified.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
In 2023, MFA curatorial staff noted the discrepancy between the provenance information provided at the time of purchase and the evidence published in Unseen Images (as above, note 1). This prompted an investigation into the coffin’s acquisition and ownership history. The MFA and Gustavianum exchanged information about the coffin and determined that it was taken from the museum collection without authorization and should be returned.
NOTES:
[1] The coffin was scientifically excavated in 1920 at Gurob by the British School of Archaeology in Egypt, after which it was sent to Uppsala, Sweden. See Unseen Images: archive photographs in the Petrie Museum, ed. Janet Picton and Ivor Pridden (London, 2008), p. 54-55.
[2] The Victoria Museum of Egyptian Antiquities received the coffin in 1922 and registered it. As of about 1970, the coffin could not be located.
[3] Liden claimed to represent the owner, the Swedish artist Eric Ståhl (1918 – 1999). He sent the MFA a letter purportedly written by Ståhl, which describes how he excavated the coffin himself at Amada, Egypt, in 1937. Ståhl, however, is not known to have participated in any excavations in Egypt. Upon close inspection of the letter, what the writer describes does not match the ceramic coffin. Liden also provided the MFA with authentications for the coffin from experts in Sweden (dated 1983/1984) that now appear to be falsified.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
In 2023, MFA curatorial staff noted the discrepancy between the provenance information provided at the time of purchase and the evidence published in Unseen Images (as above, note 1). This prompted an investigation into the coffin’s acquisition and ownership history. The MFA and Gustavianum exchanged information about the coffin and determined that it was taken from the museum collection without authorization and should be returned.