An Egyptian Tempera Mummy Portrait of a Woman, Roman Period, circa 1st Half of the 4th Century A.D., with modern repainting

painted on wood, wearing a pink chiton with black clavi, white fringed shawl or mantle over the shoulders, necklace of oblong alternating green and yellow stone or glass beads, and pendent pearl earrings, her hair arranged in a tapering coiffure and fastened with a knotted ribbon, the facial features over-painted in modern times.

reputedly from er-Rubayat
Theodor Graf (1840-1903), Vienna, 2nd Collection
Bruno Kertzmar, Vienna, by 1930
Richard Norman Tetlie (1921-1999), Georgetown, Washington, D.C.
Saint Olaf College, Northfield, Minnesota

Klaus Parlasca, Rittrati di mummie (Repertorio d’arte dell’ Egitto Greco-romano, Serie B – Volume IV), Rome, 2004, no. 800, pl. 177,3

Comparison with circa 1930 photograph shows that large areas of face were painted over since then obscuring many of the facial details. Other areas of repainting are more difficult to spot but highly likely. Several areas of losses to gessoed and painted surface quite noticeable as white in more recent photo do not appear on earlier shot. There are bitumen stains around all edges, where linen was attached to panel, and a large area of staining in upper right corner. Panel is split both vertically across the middle and horizontally across the middle of the right half, and reinforced in back with multiple slats. Losses and irregularities around edges were filled with thin pieces of painted wood.
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NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

The back of the panel is stamped with a faded Austrian export stamp and inscribed in green pencil with a number starting with 160. A white circular label reads 145/C and a square label is printed with the number 4.