The mysterious message

“Ô living ones who are upon the earth who shall pass by this tomb of mine, faring north or south, and who shall utter ‘1000 loaves of bread and 1000 jugs of beer for the owner of this tomb—his nickname is Golden Boy,’ I shall intercede for them in the necropolis. But for any man who shall enter this tomb in his impurity, I shall wring his neck like a bird! He shall be judged for it by the Great God.”*

Signed, Golden Boy

Golden Boy’s message might sound rather cryptic, but it’s in fact quite simple. Our glittery friend is inviting you stop by the Egyptian galleries to visit him next time you come to the NCMA.  If you and your family are interested in all things Egyptian, the best day to visit would be April 30, during our A Date with Egypt family fun day!

Come and immerse yourself in ancient Egyptian culture by taking a gallery tour with an ancient Egyptian guide or participating in the archaeological dig (don’t forget your archaeologist hat). You also can dress up as an Egyptian princess or a pharaoh, join in some art-making activities, and meet the NCMA’s only archaeologist. Oh! And don’t forget to say hello to Golden Boy and offer him some bread and beer (his favourite treats) by quietly whispering the following words: ‘hetep dee inek heh tah heh kheneket en kah en nehen neboo’.**

Mark your calendars for A Date with Egypt on April 30!

We’re looking forward to seeing you.

* This type of text (what Egyptologists call the ‘Address to the Living’) is found at the entrance to Old Kingdom mastaba tombs as an invitation to passers-by to enter the tomb and give offerings. Those failing to do so would be sued by the deceased when they got to heaven.

**An offering of 1000 loaves of bread and 1000 jugs of beer that I give for Golden Boy’s soul.

Home, sweet home.  In today’s third and final post, Shannon and Caroline look back on Golden Boy’s big move.

Moving Day at last! Our Golden Boy is ready to take up residence in the West Building Egyptian Gallery.

Bright and early on February 16, our beloved glittery hero was escorted from Art Storage, in the old East Building, to the new gallery by an entourage of 12 people. TWELVE! GB’s personal assistants included one curator, two art handlers, one registrar, one conservator, one conservation assistant, one exhibition designer, one mountmaker-installer, one photographer, and one webmaster-videographer . . . Oh! Mini-Mummy-Me was there, too!

The entourage made certain Golden Boy had all his personal belongings before departing. Pectoral piece. Check. Apron. Check. Soles. Check. Plaques of protective deities. Check. Helmet. Wait! Where’s the helmet? For safety the blue helmet traveled on a separate gurney from the rest of the pieces, which were already secured on the mummy.

After a long trip down the art tunnel and up the art lift, Golden Boy was ready to be installed in his new home by his unusually large entourage. That’s a lot of people to squeeze into a small gallery already full of casework and other objects, so the work required some delicate choreography. First we gave Golden Boy his helmet back (he was relieved; he was afraid of not being able to see, hear, and talk in the afterlife). Then we placed GB and his designer mummy mount into the display case and made sure the whole thing was centered.  To keep Golden Boy stable and safe, we secured the mummy mount to the backboard using long bolts. This required a bit of finagling by our mountmaker-installer (it looked like a scene from a cheesy horror flick), but we got it done.  We replaced Golden Boy’s pectoral to cover the hole where the bolts were hidden.

Finally, the case was closed with a custom-made vitrine, and we all stepped back to admire our work. (Mini-Mummy-Me gave us a standing ovation.) Golden Boy and his new designer mummy mount were finally home. Congrats to the whole team!

Golden Boy is a star. In the second post of today’s triple-header, Caroline tells us about our hero’s photo shoot.

Roll out the red carpet! Bring out the spotlights!

His blue helmet hair perfectly coiffed and his bling worn proudly on his new mummy body, a rejuvenated Golden Boy poses for the camera. Click! A golden grin. Click! A twinkle in the eye. The camera loves him.

No paparazzi shots for our Golden Boy! Nothing will do but a studio portrait taken by his favourite photographers, Karen and Chris, who have been following him on his incredible journey. Golden Boy’s best shot, carefully selected by his curatorial agent, and an accompanying bio appear on pages 40-41 of the Museum’s Handbook of the Collections. Shots from this photo session will also appear in the Systematic Catalogue of the Ancient Egyptian Collection, to be published in 2011.

If you buy a copy of the Handbook (currently available at the Museum Store), he might autograph it for you . . .

Not only did we create an Ethafoam mummy to support the various pieces of  the Gilded Mummy Covering, but we also had to make a special mount for the mummy so it could stand upright. This mount for the mount—Golden Boy’s guts, if you will—is hidden inside the Ethafoam body and was made right here in the carpentry shop (just like his mummy body was made in the conservation lab).

When Stacey made the mummy form, she carved a long, narrow space in the middle of the body, from Golden Boy’s feet to his chest. A long, threaded rod (7/8-inch diameter) was inserted vertically in the body (think of it as Golden Boy’s spine) and secured underneath the base. This keeps the mummy upright and stable. However, this was not enough. A 5-by-5-inch cavity was created in his chest so that the rod could be attached to a brass plate with a flange that had also been inserted in Golden Boy’s body. From this flange, two thin brass threaded rods (3/8-inch diameter) were screwed horizontally to the backboard of the case. You can imagine those as Golden Boy’s innards. Or maybe his heart.

The hole in Golden Boy’s chest is cleverly hidden by his gold pectoral. When we installed the Gilded Mummy Covering, we simply removed the pectoral and, just like a character in a Frankenstein movie, I stuck my hands in there and screwed the rods attached to the flange into the backboard. It was a delicate operation, almost like heart surgery, but it was all for our boy’s well-being.

(See full size image)

And here are some of Stacey’s awesome mummy-making photos with captions on Flickr:

So, once Team Golden Boy had decided on an abstracted “mummy” mount for our Gilded Mummy Covering, and we had a scale model to show us how that mount might work (we call him Mini-Mummy-Me!), we looked around to see who else might have had the same idea. We discovered that the Brooklyn Museum of Art has a mummy covering in their collection that is displayed just the right way, and we got in touch with them to see how they did it.

Conveniently enough, I was making a trip up to NYC to visit a friend right around the time we discovered our mini-mummy’s bigger cousin, so I convinced my traveling companion to stop by the BMA to take a look. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to see the object outside of its case–the conservator’s schedule did not align with my time in Brooklyn. Nonetheless, the BMA allows non-flash photography, so we took some photos that (I hope) were helpful in developing our final design for the faux mummy mount.

(Also, I like to think that Mini-Mummy-Me had a good time traveling around NYC–he got to fly with me on the plane, and meet some long-lost relatives, and he even got to cross the Brooklyn Bridge!)

The staff at the BMA was also very generous in sharing information about their process and materials, so with our photos and their expertise, our ingenious Conservation Tech, Stacey Kirby, was able to formulate a plan of action for making our own mummy mount.

(Check out earlier episodes from the Adventures of Golden Boy, and be on the lookout for more, as Golden Boy prepares for his debut in the new building.)

Golden Boy with Mini-Mummy-Me

Dearest Golden Boy,

How lonely you must be without the support of your original mummy! We, the NCMA staff, have decided that your mummy-less existence must come to an end. In admiration of your glittering gilded hieroglyphs, slimming pectoral piece and flowing locks of cobalt blue helmet hair, we are proposing a new mummy for you.

But look! Meet Mini-Mummy-Me—NCMA’s newest Top Model! At 11” tall, MMM is rockin’ the newest mummy style of carved foam covered in the finest of fabrics—a.k.a. felt and cotton knit. (Plastic mounts are so 1983!) Yes, of course darling, MMM’s a bit small for you now—it’s just a model!—rest assured your final mummy will fit you perfectly. Your golden BLING will have their own custom-carved foam pieces embedded into the body of your mummy for support. No worries though—all pieces are easily removable in case you need a little “TLC” or go off-site for your speed dating lunches. We know that the new mummy can never fully replace your original mummy. Your special bond with your “O.M.” is one that we can only cherish and honor.

But you never know what might happen! Once you move into your modern Egyptian super-white penthouse, you can rock those house parties with your hot new mummy. Mingle with the other sexy single gilded mummy coverings and you, too, could be updating your Facebook status! We just can’t wait to see all the changes that are in store for you!

Keep rockin’ that museum scene, Golden Boy!

XOXO

Stacey

Golden Boy on his old plexiglass mount, with garish turquoise casework.

The Great Team:
1 Exhibit Designer
1 Mount Maker
1 Conservation Tech/Seamstress
1 Curator (who has actually been to Egypt)

Objective: A once in a lifetime chance to create a safe and stylish new home for a precious artifact that is beloved by the visitors of the North Carolina Museum of Art.

Solution: Create a mummy for the missing mummy.

That’s right. The solution is to re-create a body form that would replicate the missing mummy that these wonderful objects were originally attached to. It’s a fabulous idea, but believe me it’s no small task! This approach is new for us and the mounting system will aid in communicating how these objects were used in real life without additional explanation. You get it right away. This was a real person, a real body; we don’t have to tell you in a label because you can see it for yourself.

Please note that this will not look like a fake mummy—no wrapped bandages and no fake body parts—as the body form will serve as the primary support system or mount as it did in ancient Egypt and with a style befitting the Golden Boy himself.

As for that turquoise color scheme…well it’s been banished for eternity!

Golden Boy’s new home, in the new Egyptian Gallery, is almost as grand as the place he’s from. Stay tuned to see the transformation happen!

Mummy from the Musée du Louvre, Paris

Coffin and mummy with cartonnage covering of a man called Sa-Hor, son of Neb-Udjat. Ptolemaic Period. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna.

Mummy with cartonnage trappings. Late Ptolemaic Period.Michael C. Carlos Museum, Atlanta.

Do you see what I see in these pictures? Do you recognise the shape that supports the various mummy coverings? Are you thinking what I’m thinking? Yes, I’m thinking about a mummy! The mummy coverings at the Louvre, the Kunsthistorisches Museum, and the Carlos Museum are all supported by a mummified body, the mummy to which the cartonnage plaques were afixed back in ancient time. I suggest we get a mummy for Golden Boy! Not a real mummy, of course, but a mummy-shaped mount that we could create here at the museum.

A mummy-shaped mount would offer excellent support to all the individual cartonnage pieces, including the helmet-mask, since it would be custom-made to fit each piece. Plus, the mummy shape will give Golden Boy much needed context, because the mount will give visitors an idea of how the gilded cartonnage pieces where used in ancient times.

What will Design and Conservation think of this crazy mummy-mount idea? Well, I guess you’ll find out with the next post… Stay tuned for the next episode in the Adventures of Golden Boy!