In the Footsteps of Howard Carter: Faience Objects from Amarna

Yesterday I started my first lecture on the new Egypt Centre Valley of the Kings course, which will feature in a series of blog posts over the coming weeks. When one thinks of the Valley of the Kings, the names of Tutankhamun and Howard Carter immediately spring to mind. Therefore, I decided to write this post on six faience objects in the Egypt Centre, which have a strong connection to Howard Carter (1874–1939). Most people would probably not find these items particularly exciting. W230a, W230b, W230e are faience tiles, W230c is an object of white and blue faience with the partial name of Amenhotep III (Nebmaatre), W230d is a fragment of a faience fish bowl, and W962 is a fragment of a model faience throwstick (fig. 1).

Fig. 1: Fragment of a model throwstick (W962)

When the Wellcome collection arrived to Swansea in 1971, Kate Bosse-Griffiths catalogued five faience objects under the number W230 (with a–e suffixes). Yet the objects clearly do not belong together, at least not as a single artefact. However, a search through the Wellcome archives reveals that they were grouped together under one number, A31973, when catalogued in the 1920s (fig. 2). The Wellcome slip says that all five items were purchased from Sotheby’s auction house on the 15 December 1924 (lot 372). In actual fact, the items were purchased the following day, with the auction taking place over three days (15–17 Dec). Knowing the auction date and lot number, I checked the auction catalogue for additional details. While only five items are listed on the Wellcome slip, the lot itself consisted of twenty-five items, which were described as: “fragments of bowls, kohl tubes, tiles, etc., in polychrome faience, some inlaid with scale pattern, names of Amenhotep III and Queen Thyi, etc.: chiefly from Tell-el-Amarna.”

Fig. 2: Wellcome slip A31973

 The auction catalogue further reveals that the objects were sold as part of the collection of the Honourable Richard Bethell (1883–1929). Bethell was an English collector and a member of the Committee of the Egypt Exploration Society between 1920–1926. He also served as Howard Carter’s personal secretary, assisting him in the tomb of Tutankhamun (Bierbrier 2019, 49). Bethell died on the 15 November 1929, having been found in his bed at Mayfair’s exclusive Bath Club. This led to media reports suggesting that curse of the pharaoh had struck, which only grew stronger after his father, Lord Westbury, leapt from a window of his seventh floor flat in St James’ Court just a few months later. Along with a suicide note, the room he jumped from was apparently filled with countless Egyptian antiquities, thus further pushing the curse narrative (Harrison 2017). Other rumours suggest that he was murdered by the arch-satanic Aleister Crowley!

Fig. 3: Faience tile (W230e)

The auction catalogue thus provides some useful clues about the five items, including the association with the site of Tell el-Amarna. Polychrome glazed tiles such at the three listed above are very common from the Amarna Period. Tiles with plant motifs in particular are well attested and can be found in museums throughout the world, including the Petrie Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the British Museum. W230e can clearly be identified as one depicting green plants against a white background (fig. 3). Some of the six objects have numbers written on them, such as 1455 on W230b (fig. 6). For a long time, the exact meaning of these numbers remained a mystery. However, during a conversation with Tom Hardwick several months ago, he mentioned that he had a copy of Bethell’s unpublished catalogue. Upon checking this, we were delighted to see that the description matched exactly. Not only to W230b, but the other five items under discussion in this post! 

The manuscript contains the following relevant entries (fig. 4):

Fig. 4: Page from the Bethell manuscript (courtesy of Tom Hardwick)

 

1454. Fragment of tile, faience with dark blue border + green inner part. L. 2¾". Amarna, Amherst. = W230a (fig. 5)

1455. Similar fragment, brown + green. L. 2". Amarna, Amherst. = W230b (fig. 6)

1456. Similar fragment, inlay of green leaves on white. L. 1½". Amarna. Amherst. = W230e (fig. 3)

1459. Similar fragment [of tile or inlay, faience]. Fish’s eye. Amarna, Amherst. = W230d (fig. 7)

1460. Fragment of model boomerang. Blue faience with cartouches of Akhenaten in black on each side. Amarna, Amherst. = W962 (fig. 1)

1465. Fragment of thick bowl(?), white faience, inlaid dark blue with cartouche of Amenhotep III. Palace of A(?). Amherst. = W230c (fig. 8)

Fig. 5: Faience tile (W230a)

 

Not only does this unpublished catalogue mention that at least five of the items originate from Amarna, but that they were originally part of the famed Amherst collection. William Amhurst Tyssen Amherst (1835–1909), First Baron Amherst of Hackney, was a British collector and patron of excavation in Egypt. He amassed a large collection of Egyptian antiquities, which were displayed at his home at Didlington Hall, Norfolk. This collection is known to have inspired the young Howard Carter. Amherst was the main financial sponsor for Flinders Petrie’s 1891–1892 excavation season at Amarna, receiving a substantial portion of the finds as a result (Bierbrier 2019, 15).

Fig 6: Faience tile (W230b)

Now knowing that the objects were from the Amherst collection, I checked this auction catalogue to see if I could identify the specific lot. The only one that stood out for faience tiles is lot 866, which is described as: “a fragment of an arm in white glaze for inlay; and a series of examples of tiles, etc., in polychrome faience, bearing floral and other designs, including wild fowl scene, from town buildings (33 [items]).” The problem is, this lot was apparently purchased by Howard Carter on behalf of Lord Carnarvon. Digging further, I was able to find the faience arm mentioned in the auction catalogue in the unpublished Bethell manuscript (number 1453) and the Wellcome archives (A31975)! It can only be assumed that Carter and Bethell traded some objects/lots. A31975 also mentions the faience throwstick (W962), which was part of lot 373 in the Bethell sale (fig. 1).

Fig. 7: Fragment of a fish-shaped bowl (W230d) 

The Amherst sale catalogue for lot 866 notes that the items were excavated within the town area at Amarna in 1891–92. If this is true, then there is a further connection to Howard Carter. In 1891, Amherst persuaded Petrie to mentor a teenage Carter that season. According to the publication of the excavation, Carter was tasked with excavating “certain parts of the town” (Petrie 1894, 1). Thus, the six objects in the Egypt Centre presented here—or at least some of them—may have been excavated by the seventeen year old Howard Carter some thirty years before his famous discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun!

Fig. 8: Vessel fragment with the name of Nebmaatre = Amenhotep III (W230c)

I am grateful to Tom Hardwick for checking the Bethell manuscript and for his discussions on the collection. 

Bibliography:

Harrison, Paul (2019) The curse of the pharaohs’ tombs. Takes of the unexpected since the days of Tutankhamun. Pen & Sword Books: London.

Kemp, Barry (2013) The city of Akhenaten and Nefertiti: Amarna and its people. London: Thames & Hudson.

Petrie, W. M. Flinders (1894) Tell el Amarna. London: Methuen & Co.

Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge (1921) Catalogue of the Amherst collection of Egyptian & Oriental antiquities: which will be sold by auction by Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge [...] on Monday, the 13th of June, 1921, and four following days. London: Davy.

Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge (1924) Catalogue of Egyptian, Greek, Roman & Babylonian antiquities, etc., comprising first and second day’s sale the collection of Egyptian antiquities, formed by the Hon. R. Bethell, third day’s sale the property of Captain Anthony Hamilton ..., part of the collection formed by the late Gustave Natorp, an Egyptian bronze solar boat for processional use, the collection formed by the late Joseph Offord, the property of H. Edwin, a bronze head of Athena wearing helmet, the property of Edward F. Elton and other properties; which will be sold by auction by Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge ... on Monday, 15th of December, 1924, and two following days. London: Davy.