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One of four late nineteenth century showcases containing eighteen fragments of the cover of the sarcophagus of Seti I, acquired by Soane with the sarcophagus in 1824.
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Showcase SM X73.C (front) displaying pieces of the lid of the sarcophagus of Seti I X73.C.i to X73.C.v (left to right) ©Sir John Soane's Museum. Photo: Lewis Bush.
One of four late nineteenth century showcases containing eighteen fragments of the cover of the sarcophagus of Seti I, acquired by Soane with the sarcophagus in 1824.
Calcite (a form of alabaster) with blue-grey infill, some of which relates to experiments aimed at recreating the original 'Egyptian blue' infill conducted in the late 19th century under the direction of Joseph Bonomi. The fragments are set into plaster.
Museum number: X73.C
Not on display
Curatorial note
According to a note by George Bailey, the first Curator of Sir John Soane's Museum (from 1837-1860): 'In the 'Description of the House and Museum', written by Sir J. Soane, the number of pieces are stated to be nineteen, apparently from being misnumbered in the Sketch of the Sarcophagus by Mr. Gandy'. In fact, this misunderstanding as to the number of pieces of the lid came about because a fragment of a canopic jar chest (X74) was mistakenly included by Gandy amongst the lid fragments in his detailed drawings. Sixteen fragments of the cover were pieced together under the direction of Joseph Bonomi, second Curator (1861-1878), and are in four cases (now in store; Bonomi displayed them in an area of the basement called the 'New Chamber'). Also now in the collection are another two small fragments of the lid discovered amongst rubbish at the entrance to the tomb of Seti in 1906 and presented to the Museum by Professor Alfred Wiedemann, a German archaeologist (Associate Professor of Archaeology at Bonn University from 1891), in 1910 (X59).
Associated items
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