|
Egypt News |
|
|
|
Soon |
Customers Trips Reviews |
|
|
Tricks of the
Trade
Purchasing Fine Papyrus Artwork
Notation: Not going to
Egypt anytime soon? You can purchase quality
true papyrus art from the Virtual Khan el-Khalili on-line.
Few tourists to
Egypt probably leave the country without at least
one papyrus painting. It is easy to carry onto airplanes, and
relatively inexpensive to purchase. The problem is, do they really
leave with true papyrus, or a cheep imitation? Will the paint hold
up, or quickly flake off? There are several issues that people
should understand when buying papyrus art in
Egypt or elsewhere, and
here, we attempt to examine what constitutes fine, quality papyrus art.Thanks to modern technology, when I started school and needed to
use paper, I simply went to the store and purchased some note books.
It was cheap, but that is obviously not how things have always
worked. Not until the Chinese invented pulp paper, and in their
interaction with those people did the Arabs also learn the process,
did paper become readily available. Though the art of writing was
probably first invented in Mesopotamia (ancient Iraq), and later
developed by the Egyptians in the 4th Century BC, initially a good
portable medium was not available. The ancients began writing upon
stones, bones, the barks of trees and textiles, but with the
expanding practice of writing, more practical materials were needed.
Thus, from the stalks of the papyrus plant that grew wild in marshy
areas of the Nile, the Egyptians developed papyrus paper (see
Historical Papyrus).Papyrus was effectively an Egyptian monopoly and
its manufacture was a guarded secret. Indeed, the papyrus plant
became a symbol of Lower
Egypt, and was regarded as so typically
Egyptian that it could be regarded as a metaphor for the entire
country. Under the best conditions, the stem of the Egyptian papyrus
could reach the height of five meters and the thickness of about
five centimeters. However, under more normal circumstances, the
plants would yield stems of only modest thickness, which were not
useful for making writing material. Therefore it was used for making
many things, including baskets, ropes and boats, yet from about 3000
BC, its most important use was of course as a writing medium. The
earliest surviving example is a blank papyrus roll found in the tomb
of Hemaka, an official of the 1st Dynasty (2925-2775 BC) at Saqqara.
The quality of manufacture was by this time already so fine that
Egyptians must have been making papyrus rolls for some time.
However, with the invention of pulp paper, papyrus slowly
disappeared from use, even in
Egypt. Because it was no longer a
viable commercial product, as farming came to the Nile Delta, its
even disappeared from the Egyptian landscape. Papyrus making was not
revived until around 1969. At that time, an Egyptian scientist named
Dr. Hassan Ragab reintroduced the papyrus plant to
Egypt from the
Sudan and started a papyrus plantation near
Cairo on Jacob Island.
He also had to research the method of production. Unfortunately, the
ancient Egyptians left little evidence about the manufacturing
process. There are no extant texts or wall paintings and
archaeologists have failed to uncover any manufacturing centers.
Most of our knowledge about the actual manufacturing process is
derived from its description in Pliny the elder's Natural History
and modern experimentation. Dr. Ragab finally figured out how it was
done, and now papyrus making is back in
Egypt after a very long
absence. We should note that Dr. Hassan Ragab had a remarkable
career with over 42 inventions credited to his name as an engineer.
After World War II, he also served time in Washington, DC as
Egypt's
military attaché and later became the first Egyptian ambassador to
China, with other ambassadorial posts to Italy and Yugoslavia.
Today, papyrus is mostly used for decorative art, and though most of
it is sold to tourists, it is even somewhat popular in Egyptian
homes. However, rarely do we find what might be termed "museum
replica" papyrus. We might find an example of an early medical
papyrus hanging on the walls of a doctor's office, but for the most
part, the extant ancient papyri found in museums and specific
papyrus collections is not very decorative or interesting in and of
itself. Hence, modern papyri are usually adorned with more colorful
subject mater.Paintings on papyrus material vary considerably. Our
personal favorites are accurately portrayed scenes, usually
duplicating to a high degree the wall paintings from ancient tombs
and temples, as well as from early Christian churches and
monasteries when papyrus was still in use. However, paintings on
papyrus may include more stylistic themes from ancient
Egypt, and we
can find examples of almost any subject mater, including modern art.There are a number of quality considerations when purchasing
papyrus art. Perhaps the two most important issues are the material
and the quality of the art itself. By material, we refer to the fact
that a considerable amount of "papyrus" purchased in
Egypt is not
papyrus at all. On the streets of
Cairo such as in front of the
Egyptian Antiquities Museum and at other popular tourist
attractions, much of the art sold as papyrus is actually made from
the banana stalk. Other materials used to simulate papyrus include
corn husks, potatoes, eggplant, carrot and a few other materials.
However, there are a
few ways to distinguish real papyrus from these forgeries. True
papyrus is usually heavier in weight, strong, difficult to tear and
somewhat opaque (though certainly not always). There are a number of
stores, for example, near the Egyptian museum that do sell true
papyrus and before purchasing a sample on the street, it might be
advisable to visit one of these shops for comparison. The light
colored papyrus has different colors or degrees of brown and one can
see the veins clearly in the light. Unpainted sheets can be somewhat
crunched though will retain their "memory" and thus return to a flat
sheet. Of course, crushing painted papyrus is not a good idea
because of the paint itself. Furthermore, reputable papyrus vendors
stamp their merchandize with the store stamp to guarantee
authenticity of the product. Obviously, one of the best means of
making sure that true papyrus is purchased is to buy it from a
reputable shop, as opposed to a street vendor.During ancient times,
there were certainly different levels of quality in papyrus paper.
The best of the paper was made from the innermost material of the
papyrus stalk. However, today most papyrus is of a similar grade,
though there can be a few difference, and a number of different
styles. In some papyrus manufacturing, the strips are placed
alternating vertical and horizontal, while in others, one layer is
all vertical and the next is all horizontal. Of these, the second
method provides the smoother surface for painters.
What is more evident is the various styles of papyrus which are
produced. Depending on the final process, some papyri may look very
different than other papyri. When papyrus strips are soaked in water
for about four to six days and pressed for an additional six days,
the sheet will be brighter and the color will be light tan, though
some parts of the strips will be darker in color. However, sometimes
the strips are left in water for longer than a week, and as long as
a month. Then it is pressed for as long as two months. This results
in a sheet that takes on a dark brown solid color, which to some,
appears more aged. This latter process will cause the edges of the
papyri to have a hairy, or fringed appearance as a result of losing
some of the natural glue in the strip and the tissue that connects
the veins. While the dark papyrus looks perhaps more authentic and
is actually a more expensive production technique, the light colored
papyrus sheets are stronger. However, this may matter little if the
intent is to frame and display the artwork.
In general, we can find all sizes of papyrus paintings. Workers cut
the papyrus stalk to the length they wish for the sheet that will be
produced, and since talks generally grow today as large as about
four to five meters in height, this can produce a fairly large sheet
of papyrus paper. They can put as many strips side by side as they
please to produce the desired width. Their only limitation may be
the size of their press. It must be noted, however, that many tomb
and temple paintings are much larger than the more standard sizes of
papyrus, and so some artists prefer to work with larger papyri
sheets in order to capture the details found on the original
artwork.
The entire ceiling of an ancient tomb reproduced on a large scale
papyrus
True papyrus is usually painted and not printed by machine, as one
finds with fake papyrus, "Papyrus" made from other materials is
frequently discernable by its cheep appearance, including flaking of
the painted surface. Some artists paint true papyrus completely by
hand using a light table to ease their job. Others, and especially
with when painting on large sheets, may use a silk screen process
for drawing the outlines and then finish the rest of the painting by
hand. However, it has been mentioned (by one vendor during
interviews for this article) that real papyrus may sometimes be
printed using an inkjet color printer after smoothing the sheet very
well.
Several large scale papyrus paintings reproducing tomb art
Though very little if any true papyrus is machine printed, one can
often tell the difference between machine and hand painted papyrus,
which can also help distinguish true from fake papyrus. Vendors use
printing machines for fast work, and apparently there is "bleeding"
that occurs. Hence, with machine work, edges may overlap to some
extent. With hand painted papyrus, the paint remains within the
lines and does not overlap the outlines of the artwork as does
machine printing.
Also, all hand painted papyrus is signed by the artist. There are
even some artists that are very popular. One of the most famous was
Dr. Besheer Abdel-Salam, who appears to have been a popular artist
known to almost all reputable papyrus dealers. However, he died a
few years ago. Others include an Egyptian named Khedr, who's work
can be found in a number of papyrus galleries. Other well known
artists include Adel Ghaboor, Abdel-Moniem Waheed, Naser, Adel Eawzy,
Yaser Abdel-Moniem, Yehya Zakariya and Monsef. However, we should
point out that in some cases, the work of these artists can be
somewhat stylistic and may depart considerably from accurate
reproduction of authentic pharaonic depictions.
Though real papyrus by nature can accept just about any kind of
paint, most artists (and even machine processes) use gouache colors,
which are frequently used by other designers and illustrators
because of their outstanding brilliance, exceptionally smooth flow,
great opacity and covering power. Furthermore, the color of the
medium (papyrus) has little effect on this type of paint. For the
color gold, the best artwork will employ gold-leaf, but others will
utilize a metallic based paint.
The cost of "papyrus" artwork can vary considerably; almost
infinitely. On the street in
Cairo, cheap, normal size papyrus can
be had for as little as a couple of dollars (or even less, if one
visits the vendors in front of the Egyptian Antiquities Museum near
closing time). From there, good true papyrus may range in price to
several hundred dollars (USD) when purchasing work by artists such
as Dr. Besheer Abdel-Salam or very large papyrus paintings.
Obviously, papyrus is very durable. Thousands of papyrus documents
from ancient times may be found in collections today, and certainly
this papyrus was not preserved over these many thousands of years
under optimal conditions. This material is much, much more lasting
than ordinary pulp paper and under fairly good conditions, the
papyrus paper itself will not only outlast the purchaser, but
probably his future family line. However, colors do fade so ideally
papyrus artwork should be framed and for best result, placed behind
museum quality glass that provides good protection from harmful UV
rays which can cause discoloration of the paint. Glass products such
as Tru Vue will not only protect the colors of the paint, but are
also non-glare products used extensively in fine picture framing.
|
