Nina de Garis Davies

Nina de Garis Davies (born January 6, 1881 in Saloniki , Greece as Anna Macpherson Cummings , † April 21, 1965 in Oxford , Great Britain ); (also signed: Nina C. and Nina Macpherson ) was a British painter . She copied the wall paintings in the Egyptian private graves of the nobles in Thebes West.

Youth and education

Anna Macpherson Cummings, called Nina, was born on January 6, 1881 in Salonika as the eldest of three daughters. Her father, Cecil J. Cummings, had tried his hand at farming there, but later worked as an agent for a shipping line. After marrying Sarah Macintosh Tannoch, the parents went to Saloniki. The girls spoke Greek and were taught by their mother in their house on Mount Pelion above the Gulf of Volos. After the father's death in 1894, the family moved back to Aberdeen, Scotland. They then moved to Bedford, where the girls attended private school. They soon moved to London so that Nina could continue her artistic training at the Slade School of Arts and later at the Royal College of Art . A degree there is unknown - which was not uncommon for women at the time.

At the age of 25 she visited friends in Alexandria and it was here in Egypt that she met Norman de Garis Davies , whom she married on October 8, 1907 in London. They immediately traveled to Thebes to Norman's new place of work on the Egypt expedition of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

See also → main article by Norman de Garis Davies

The work of the copyists (picture markers) at the beginning of the 20th century

Although photography was also used in archeology, which was only black and white about 100 years ago, copyists, i.e. H. Painter and draftsman, needed. The graves were often small and the corridors were low, so that they could not be optimally illuminated for photos. The photos also often showed shadows. Something like that was fatal for studying the inscriptions. Only the draftsman could reproduce the hieroglyphs exactly. In 1912 the Egyptian government banned paper copying to protect the wall paintings. The touch-off technique ran the risk of removing layers of paint from the surface. This measure increased the need for draftsmen. The personal handwriting of the busy artist had to recede under the necessity of the greatest possible accuracy. In order to understand the inscriptions and to be able to establish a temporal connection, they had to be compared again and again, especially since some names such as B. Amenhotep appeared very frequently. At the beginning of the 20th century, only a few scientists were concerned with the study of hieroglyphics. In Great Britain, these were Archibald Henry Sayce and Francis Llewellyn Griffith . In Germany, it was Adolf Erman , Kurt Sethe and Hermann Grapow who were busy editing an Egyptian dictionary , the first volume of which appeared in 1926. Even Alan Gardiner had worked on it and gathered in Egypt other texts - not least for his own publication, an Egyptian-English dictionary, the famous Gardiner list , a compilation of the most important hieroglyphs .

Nina's painting technique in color

After they had settled in Qurna, Nina soon afterwards chose the grave of Djehuty, occupied by Djehutiemheb, ( TT45 ) for her first attempts.

At the beginning of the 20th century it was customary to produce the color drawings in water color, which, however, left a somewhat flat impression. Nina now began to experiment with the colors and one of her first assistants, Francis Unwin, suggested the use of " egg tempera ". The advantages of this color have been known since the Middle Ages. After drying, the color can no longer be dissolved and its durability is even lightfast. Incidentally, the color has one disadvantage: it ages. This means that egg tempera should be mixed up after a short time and cannot be stored for a long period of time. We liked the opaque result so much that she then mainly used this technique.

The first step in making a copy was a pencil drawing. The material for this was copy paper in sheets of approx. 90 × 50 cm, which was attached to the wall. Then the copy had to be transferred to the selected paper or cardboard. Graphite paper was used for this, a proven medium for drawing through. In principle, it has the same properties as carbon paper, but in contrast is free of grease. The contours can be transferred to all smooth and slightly rough surfaces and easily erased again. To trace, Nina drew a rectangular border around the desired scene and, after transferring, improved some of the lines with pencil. After that, she freehand painted the rest of the wall. She had a good eye for this. The right light was generated by one or more mirrors and a diffuser.

The key to their success was the method of their paint application. She suggested that the best way to reproduce the aspects of the painting was to use the same color sequences that the artist at the time used. If you z. For example, when painting a male figure wearing a white robe through which the color of his body was partially visible, it started with the background, then the color of the body, which was then covered with white for the robe, and finally the reddish one - Received brown outline. She worked out the figure as the painter of antiquity had done by applying more color to the background. Nina decided not to show the damaged or missing part of a picture as a “white spot”, but instead developed a way of painting this area in washed-out color. Although it indicated that it was missing, the overall impression was retained. Cracks in the wall were carefully drawn in and often appeared three-dimensional.

Alan Gardiner was very impressed with her drawings. He saw the important historical value and agreed with her to buy as many paintings from her as he could. This resulted in their later collaboration, which lasted her entire life.

Nina's work in Egypt

Although Norman was only able to secure a job for Nina in the graphic branch of the expedition in 1913, she had been working in the graves as a matter of course since her arrival in 1907. They were both very busy: for the Egypt Exploration Fund, of which Alan H. Gardiner was temporarily director, they had started the Five Theban Tombs series (TT) with great success in 1913 . The Tomb of the Night was published in 1912 as the first volume of the " Robb de Peyster Tytus memorial series" in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, in 1912, and attracted a great deal of attention for its color illustrations.

Ancient Egyptian Paintings

Because the “Theben Tomb Series” had been printed in black and white for cost reasons, Alan Gardiner pursued the idea of ​​bringing out Nina's color pictures in a unique way. James Henry Breasted , who also showed great interest in Nina's work, introduced Gardiner to Mr. Welles Bosworth, the architect of John D. Rockefeller Jr. , one of the great American patrons. In 1927 he showed him his picture collection of Nina's work in London. In April 1929, Breasted wrote to him that Rockefeller would be willing to pay for a publication - under the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago as editor - of Nina's life's work.

Now it was a matter of making a selection that, if possible, avoided overlapping with the 63 color images of the Robb de Pester Tytus Memorial series of the MMA and still the tomb painting from the beginning of the 4th Dynasty (approx. 2700 BC) Empire to the end of the 20th dynasty (1100 BC). In order to cover this enormous period, they received the consent of Professor Hermann Junker , Sir Robert Mond , Bernard Bruyère and Howard Carter to also use their images. Professor Heinrich Schäfer of the Berlin Museum had Nina copy the fisherman scene from Menna's grave, and both the Cairo Museum and the British Museum gave permission for reproductions. This finally resulted in 104 images. The Chiswick Press (Messrs. Whittingham & Griggs) was selected for color printing, which - viewed overall - achieved a very good result. The typography, text printing and binding was done by Oxford University Press. The first two volumes were published as an atlas folio (approx. 60 cm) and each contain 52 color images. The first volume contains the sheet "published as a Special Publication of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago". Volume III is the text volume in the octave book format .

In the introduction, Nina writes through several chapters about the development of tomb painting in the different epochs, the tools, the combination of relief and color, the artists and their approach, the durability of the color pigments and their changes, as well as the reasons for destruction Human hands, use as apartments, but also through the droppings of bats and wasps, which drill holes in the walls for their larvae.

The project ended in 1936. This work resulted in the encapsulation of Norman and it shows Nina at the height of her achievements in Egyptology.

In 1954 the work was published in France by Albert Champdor. * La peinture Égyptienne Ancienne . Tome 1-5. Préface Albert Champdor. 40 planches couleurs avec le texte. Published by Albert Guillot, Paris 1953–1954

In 1959 the German edition followed: * Nina Macpherson Davies: Egyptian wall painting . According to originals, mostly from d. 18th Dynasty, in Brit. Museum and in the Bankes Collection. German by Günther Steinig. safari art series. Safari-Verlag, Berlin 1959.

Back in England

Nina usually painted 3 to 5 pictures per season. In the period from 1935 to 1939, however, there was a sharp decline. The reason for their departure from Egypt in 1939 is unknown, but it may have been a combination of MMA's strategy and Norman's age. The uncertain political situation could also have played a role that led them to return to England. From 1938 the Muslim Brotherhood occupied important posts in the Egyptian army and the trade unions. On September 3, 1939, England and France had declared war on Germany.

In a combination of obligation and to overcome the painful loss of Norman's death in 1941, she began to process the masses of material that had accumulated over decades from Egypt and to prepare for Norman's publication The Temple of Hibis in el Khargeh Oasis . Part III, The Decoration. During the war years she helped Percy E. Newberry catalog his collection of textiles. She also supported Alan H. Gardiner in the publication of " Seven Private Tombs at Kurneh " for the EFS, the second volume for the Mond Excarvations at Thebes (MET).

Her collection of colored hieroglyphs, which she had compiled for Gardiner's "Dictionary", she now used as the basis for her book " Picture Writing in Ancient Egypt ", which appeared in 1958.

Tutankhamun's Painted Box

In 1951 Nina traveled again to Egypt to paint a chest (JE 61467) from the tomb of Tutankhamun in the Cairo Museum . She had a personal relationship with this grave because when Harry Burton's first photos were taken, and both Albert Lythgoe and Arthur Mace were released from the MMA to work on Carter's sensational find, they heard all the news first hand at the Metropolitan House. Norman and Nina were also present at the official opening of the grave in February 1922.

She had painted two pages of this before and now Gardiner had urged her to finish the work. The painted chest shows the king on his horse-drawn chariot hunting lions and fighting his enemies. The chest shows a beautiful miniature painting that was previously only known from Persia.

Nina's notes from the Cairo museum have been preserved in the Griffith Institute. Here is an excerpt:

“ The paraffin wax that Carter applied for preservation has undoubtedly darkened the blues and greens that had already darkened with age. So the current colors do not correspond to those originally applied. It's very hard to tell what was dark blue - it's got that close to black. Even the green only has its right tone every now and then. I have tried to show the difference between blue and black (without straying too far from today's color), which is known from the usual colors used in such representations; but whether the king's beard, eyebrows, and eyes were blue or black is now impossible to determine. "

- Mrs. de Garis Davies Notes made in January / February 1951 on the casket of Tutankhamun : Griffith Institute

Nina Davies was - like her husband - of short stature. Despite her work in the graves, she always managed to look well-groomed. All of her friends in Egypt describe her as charming and an excellent hostess. She was very determined in her work. In doing so, she corrected the mistakes of her employees harshly but always politely. She sees memories from the 1950s as shy and reserved, yet dignified, although she was very friendly and sociable with her friends. She seems to have led a simple and frugal life. After Norman's death she sought the Egyptian background and it was said that she jealously guarded his memory. Her last book was published in 1963, Scenes from some Private Tombs , in which she compiled her previously unpublished collection of images from Egypt.

Nina lived in her home in Hinksey Hill, Oxford until around 1964, when she had to go to a nursing home due to cancer. She died there on April 21, 1965.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has an incomparable collection of facsimile paintings of the murals from the Egyptian tombs. More than 150 are from Nina and around 50 from Norman, although some of the pictures cannot be clearly assigned - they probably only signed with an "N". In addition to the graves published by the MMA, Nina's work also includes many other grave copies. Her greatest creative period seems to have been between 1920 and 1935, with the first picture from 1908 and the last from 1938. The value of this collection is also historically unique, especially since today many of the graves have fallen into disrepair or have been partially destroyed.

Web links

• Nigel Strudwick: Nina de Garis Davies (PDF; 141 kB)
• Nina de Garis Davies at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
• Ancient Egyptian Paintings . Volume I: Plates 1-52. Selected, Copied, and Described by Nina M. Davies with the Editorial Assistance of Alan H. Gardiner. University of Chicago Press 1936. (PDF; 143 MB)
• Pictures from “Ancient Egyptian Paintings” Louvre Bibliothèque, Paris ( Memento from July 26, 2015 in the Internet Archive )

• List of graves drawn by Norman and Nina De Garis Davies in Sheikh Abd el-Qurna and Dra Abu el-Naga in the Griffith Institute Oxford

• TOMBS OF THE NOBLES - with description and illustrations by Nina and Norman de Garis Davies

Publications

• 1923 Victoria and Albert Museum: Facsimiles of Theban wall-painting, by Nina de Garis Davies, lent by Dr Alan H. Gardiner ([London])
• Henry Frankfort (Ed.): The Mural Painting of El-'Amarneh . Contributions by N. de Garis Davies, H. Frankfort, SRK Glanville, T. Whittemore. (The Francis G. Newton Memorial Volume.) The Egypt Exploration Society, London 1929.
• 1936 Ancient Egyptian Paintings selected, copied and described by Nina M. Davies . 3 volumes. With the editorial assistance of Alan H. Gardiner. Special Publication of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. James Henry Breasted Editor. Thomas George Allen Associate Editor. The University of Chicago Press 1936.
• 1941 The tomb of the vizier Ramose . vol. 1, Mond excavations at Thebes, The Egypt Exploration Society London
• 1953/4 (with AH Gardiner, A. Champdor) La peinture égyptienne ancienne (Paris)
• 1954 Egyptian Paintings (London)
• 1958 Picture writing in Ancient Egypt Published on behalf of the Griffith Institute, Ashmolean Museum Oxford by Oxford University Press
• 1958 Egyptian tomb paintings , from originals mainly of the 18th dynasty in the British Museum and the Bankes Collection (London)
• 1959 Egyptian wall painting. Based on originals, mostly from the 18th Dynasty, in the British Museum and in the Bankes Collection (Berlin). (German translation)
• 1962 Tutankhamun's Painted Box Reproduced in color from the original in the Cairo Museum and with explanatory text by Alan H. Gardiner. Printed for the Griffith Institute by V. Ridler at Oxford 1962. ISBN 978-0-900416-22-4
• 1963 Torgny Säve-Söderberg & Nina de Garis Davies: Private Tombs at Thebes . Vol. I: Four Eighteenth Dynasty Tombs. 55 pp., 72 plates (partly double-page). Vol. II: Scenes from Some Theban Tombs (TT 38, 66, 162, With Excerpts from 81). By Nina de Garis Davies. 22 pp., 24 plates (partly double-page, partly folding). Griffith Institute / University Press Oxford, 1957–1963.

The Theban Tombs Series (TTS) . The Egypt Exploration Society, London:

• First and introductory memoir: The Tomb of Amenemhet (TT 82) copied in line and color by Nina de Garis Davies and with explanatory text by Alan H. Gardiner, XLVI plates (three in color + color frontis), 1915, (Reprinted lithographically 1973 ).
• Second memoir: The Tomb of Antefoker vizier of Sesostris I, and of His Wife, Senet (TT 60) with a chapter by Alan H. Gardiner, illustrated by six plates in color by Nina de Garis Davies and by forty-two plates in line and collotype. 40 pp., + XXXVI plates. (1920).
• Third memoir: The Tombs of two officials of Tuthmosis the Fourth (TT 75 and TT 90) illustrated by four plates in color by Nina de Garis Davies and by thirty-four plates in line and collotype. 46 pp., + XXXVIII plates. (1923).
• Fourth memoir: The Tomb of Huy, viceroy of Nubia in the reign of Tut'ankhamun (TT 40) copied in line and color by Nina de Garis Davies and with explanatory text by Alan H. Gardiner, 42 pp., + XL plates. (1926).
• Fifth memoir: The Tombs of Menkheperrasonb, Amenmose and Another (TT 86, TT 112, TT 42, TT 226), with a frontispiece in color and line plates by Nina de Garis Davies and with an explanatory text by Norman de Garis Davies. 48 pp., + XLVI plates. (1933).

The Robb de Peyster Tytus Memorial Series. (RPMS) (Publications of The Metropolitan Museum of Art Egyptian Expedition.) 5 volumes, 1912–1927:

• I: The Tomb of Nakht at Thebes . With plates in color by L. Crane, Norman de Garis Davies, and FS Unwin of the Egyptian Expedition, and Nina de Garis Davies. xxv, (1), 79, (3) pp., 30 plates, keyplan. 12 line-drawn illus. 1912
• II: The Tomb of Puyemrê at Thebes . With plates in color by N. De Garis Davies and HR Hopgood of the Egyptian Expedition. Vol. I: The Hall of Memories. xxii, 109, (5) pp., 43 plates. 1 illus. 1922
• III: The Tomb of Puyemrê at Thebes . With plates in color by N. de Garis Davies and HR Hopgood of the Egyptian Expedition. Vol. II: The Chapels of Hope. xii, 99, (5) pp., 36 plates. 1 illus. 1923.
• IV: The Tomb of Two Sculptors at Thebes . With plates in color by Norman de Garis Davies, Nina de Garis Davies, HR Hopgood and Charles K. Wilkinson of the Egyptian Expedition. xii, 76, (4) pp., 31 plates. 1925
• V: Two Ramesside Tombs at Thebes . With plates in color by Norman de Garis Davies, HR Hopgood, CK Wilkinson, the late Norman Hardy and Nina de Garis Davies of the Egyptian Expedition. xix, (1), 86, (4) pp., 42 plates. 1927

Exhibitions

Catalogs of exhibitions in which Nina Davie's work was involved:

• A. Lansing: An exhibition of copies of Egyptian wall paintings from tombs and palaces of the XVIII. and XIX. dynasties, 1600-1200 BC (New York 1930).
• J. Carswell: Artists in Egypt: An exhibition of Paintings and Drawings by Artist employed by the Oriental Institute in Egypt, 1920-1935 (Chicago 1978).
• CK Wilkinson and M. Hill: Egyptian Wall Paintings: The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Collection of Facsimiles (New York 1983).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Gardiner's Sign List ( Memento of November 10, 2001 in the Internet Archive )
2. ↑ Journal of Egyptian Archeology (JEA) No. 16, editor EES, London 1930. Notes and News, page 142. (PDF; 357 kB)
3. ^ Ancient Egyptian Paintings . Volume I: Plates 1-52. Selected, Copied, and Described by Nina M. Davies with the Editorial Assistance of Alan H. Gardiner. University of Chicago Press 1936. (PDF; 143 MB)
4. ↑ Pictures from “Ancient Egyptian Paintings” - Louvre Bibliothèque, Paris
5. ↑ TGH James: “Howard Carter The Path to Tutankhamun”, Tauris Verlag, 2006 edition, ISBN 978-1-84511-258-5 , Chapter 11, page 287ff
6. ^ Tutankhamun's Painted Box
7. ↑ Notes made by Mrs. de Garis Davies in January / February 1951 on the casket of Tutankhamun which she painted (Card / Transcription No .: 021-01 + 02)