Middle Kingdom Art in Egypt by Cyril AldredReview by: Nora ScottArtibus Asiae, Vol. 14, No. 1/2 (1951), p. 196Published by: Artibus Asiae PublishersStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3248696 .Accessed: 10/11/2012 15:07
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp
.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].
.
Artibus Asiae Publishers is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Artibus Asiae.
http://www.jstor.org
http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=artibushttp://www.jstor.org/stable/3248696?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jspThe book is produced in the sumptuous style that
one has come to expect from the Boston Museum
of Fine Arts. Nevertheless, with a stricter measure
of economy the text might have been more suc-
cinct and easier to find one's way about in. Really
stimulating observations are hidden away so that
one despairs of finding them for a second reading. But by and large, this is a book of facts, on which
the student must draw to support or refute his
own fancies.
Metropolitan Museum of Art Nora Scott
Cyril Aldred, Middle Kingdom Art in Egypt. 5o pp.,
83pl. Alec Tiranti, London, Ig50o. 61-. This is the second of the three volumes in which
Mr. Aldred has set out to discuss Egyptian art up to the Amarneh age. It is to be hoped that he will
continue his study to cover the entire dynastic
period, for nowhere else is there a comparable treatment of the subject. Clear and concise, well
printed, with many carefully selected illustrations,
and - an important point - remarkably inex-
pensive, the two volumes which have now appeared
help to fill a surprising gap in the literature of
Egyptology. Mr. Aldred pratically limits his discussion to sculp-
ture, "the most forceful and characteristic expres-
sion of the artistic genius of the Egyptian, which
alone can provide a common standard for measuring
the development of his aesthetic ideas throughout
the ages. Like its predecessor, Middle Kingdom Art consists of an introductory essay and a brief
historical summary, followed by detailed notes on
the plates. The introduction compares the art of
the Old and Middle Kingdoms, discusses the
religious, political, and social backgrounds of the
Middle Kingdom, and sums up the points made in
the notes, emphasizing the development of style
The book is produced in the sumptuous style that
one has come to expect from the Boston Museum
of Fine Arts. Nevertheless, with a stricter measure
of economy the text might have been more suc-
cinct and easier to find one's way about in. Really
stimulating observations are hidden away so that
one despairs of finding them for a second reading. But by and large, this is a book of facts, on which
the student must draw to support or refute his
own fancies.
Metropolitan Museum of Art Nora Scott
Cyril Aldred, Middle Kingdom Art in Egypt. 5o pp.,
83pl. Alec Tiranti, London, Ig50o. 61-. This is the second of the three volumes in which
Mr. Aldred has set out to discuss Egyptian art up to the Amarneh age. It is to be hoped that he will
continue his study to cover the entire dynastic
period, for nowhere else is there a comparable treatment of the subject. Clear and concise, well
printed, with many carefully selected illustrations,
and - an important point - remarkably inex-
pensive, the two volumes which have now appeared
help to fill a surprising gap in the literature of
Egyptology. Mr. Aldred pratically limits his discussion to sculp-
ture, "the most forceful and characteristic expres-
sion of the artistic genius of the Egyptian, which
alone can provide a common standard for measuring
the development of his aesthetic ideas throughout
the ages. Like its predecessor, Middle Kingdom Art consists of an introductory essay and a brief
historical summary, followed by detailed notes on
the plates. The introduction compares the art of
the Old and Middle Kingdoms, discusses the
religious, political, and social backgrounds of the
Middle Kingdom, and sums up the points made in
the notes, emphasizing the development of style
The book is produced in the sumptuous style that
one has come to expect from the Boston Museum
of Fine Arts. Nevertheless, with a stricter measure
of economy the text might have been more suc-
cinct and easier to find one's way about in. Really
stimulating observations are hidden away so that
one despairs of finding them for a second reading. But by and large, this is a book of facts, on which
the student must draw to support or refute his
own fancies.
Metropolitan Museum of Art Nora Scott
Cyril Aldred, Middle Kingdom Art in Egypt. 5o pp.,
83pl. Alec Tiranti, London, Ig50o. 61-. This is the second of the three volumes in which
Mr. Aldred has set out to discuss Egyptian art up to the Amarneh age. It is to be hoped that he will
continue his study to cover the entire dynastic
period, for nowhere else is there a comparable treatment of the subject. Clear and concise, well
printed, with many carefully selected illustrations,
and - an important point - remarkably inex-
pensive, the two volumes which have now appeared
help to fill a surprising gap in the literature of
Egyptology. Mr. Aldred pratically limits his discussion to sculp-
ture, "the most forceful and characteristic expres-
sion of the artistic genius of the Egyptian, which
alone can provide a common standard for measuring
the development of his aesthetic ideas throughout
the ages. Like its predecessor, Middle Kingdom Art consists of an introductory essay and a brief
historical summary, followed by detailed notes on
the plates. The introduction compares the art of
the Old and Middle Kingdoms, discusses the
religious, political, and social backgrounds of the
Middle Kingdom, and sums up the points made in
the notes, emphasizing the development of style
from the beginning of the XI to the XIII Dynasty. The author distinguishes two schools of art, a
northern and a southern, the products of two
different cultures, the former (connected with
Memphis) stimulated by sun worship and continu-
ing the naturalistic tradition of the Old Kingdom. The triumph of the cult of Osiris in the early Middle Kingdom, he believes, encouraged the more
sombre and massive architecture and the formalized
style of sculpture which became associated with
Thebes.
The plates include a number of illustrations not
generally available. Of particular interest is no. 81,
a statue from the Hapsburg collection, which
would almost certainly be classed as Saite were it
not for the inscription, which has the name and
title of a well-known XIII Dynasty official.
Metropolitan Museum of Art Nora Scott
Schuyler Camman, " The Land of the Camel."
New York, The Ronald Press Co. 197 pp., with
map and 39 photographic illustrations.
As an officer of the U. S. Navy, Dr. Schuyler
Camman, now associated with the Chinese de-
partment of the Museum of the University of
Pennsylvania, was ordered in August, 1945 to
deliver a valuable truckload of supplies to an
American weather outpost near Shanpa in the
Suiyuan Province of Inner Mongolia. This book
describes with a wealth of detail the country, the
people and their food, shelter, costumes and
customs, and especially the lama temples of the
area he was able to observe during a stay of
approximately three months, made necessary by the breakdown of his six-wheel truck.
Dr. Camman had visited Suiyuan Province briefly in 1936 as a student of Far Eastern peoples and
their cultures. This background, plus his command
from the beginning of the XI to the XIII Dynasty. The author distinguishes two schools of art, a
northern and a southern, the products of two
different cultures, the former (connected with
Memphis) stimulated by sun worship and continu-
ing the naturalistic tradition of the Old Kingdom. The triumph of the cult of Osiris in the early Middle Kingdom, he believes, encouraged the more
sombre and massive architecture and the formalized
style of sculpture which became associated with
Thebes.
The plates include a number of illustrations not
generally available. Of particular interest is no. 81,
a statue from the Hapsburg collection, which
would almost certainly be classed as Saite were it
not for the inscription, which has the name and
title of a well-known XIII Dynasty official.
Metropolitan Museum of Art Nora Scott
Schuyler Camman, " The Land of the Camel."
New York, The Ronald Press Co. 197 pp., with
map and 39 photographic illustrations.
As an officer of the U. S. Navy, Dr. Schuyler
Camman, now associated with the Chinese de-
partment of the Museum of the University of
Pennsylvania, was ordered in August, 1945 to
deliver a valuable truckload of supplies to an
American weather outpost near Shanpa in the
Suiyuan Province of Inner Mongolia. This book
describes with a wealth of detail the country, the
people and their food, shelter, costumes and
customs, and especially the lama temples of the
area he was able to observe during a stay of
approximately three months, made necessary by the breakdown of his six-wheel truck.
Dr. Camman had visited Suiyuan Province briefly in 1936 as a student of Far Eastern peoples and
their cultures. This background, plus his command
from the beginning of the XI to the XIII Dynasty. The author distinguishes two schools of art, a
northern and a southern, the products of two
different cultures, the former (connected with
Memphis) stimulated by sun worship and continu-
ing the naturalistic tradition of the Old Kingdom. The triumph of the cult of Osiris in the early Middle Kingdom, he believes, encouraged the more
sombre and massive architecture and the formalized
style of sculpture which became associated with
Thebes.
The plates include a number of illustrations not
generally available. Of particular interest is no. 81,
a statue from the Hapsburg collection, which
would almost certainly be classed as Saite were it
not for the inscription, which has the name and
title of a well-known XIII Dynasty official.
Metropolitan Museum of Art Nora Scott
Schuyler Camman, " The Land of the Camel."
New York, The Ronald Press Co. 197 pp., with
map and 39 photographic illustrations.
As an officer of the U. S. Navy, Dr. Schuyler
Camman, now associated with the Chinese de-
partment of the Museum of the University of
Pennsylvania, was ordered in August, 1945 to
deliver a valuable truckload of supplies to an
American weather outpost near Shanpa in the
Suiyuan Province of Inner Mongolia. This book
describes with a wealth of detail the country, the
people and their food, shelter, costumes and
customs, and especially the lama temples of the
area he was able to observe during a stay of
approximately three months, made necessary by the breakdown of his six-wheel truck.
Dr. Camman had visited Suiyuan Province briefly in 1936 as a student of Far Eastern peoples and
their cultures. This background, plus his command
I96 I96 I96
Article Contentsp.196Issue Table of ContentsArtibus Asiae, Vol. 14, No. 1/2 (1951), pp. i-xiii+1-204Volume Information [pp.i-xiii]Front Matter [pp.1-3]Find of Tempera Painting in Stbhiji, District Keojhr, Orissa [pp.5-25]The Yeh-Chou Yao Celadon Excavated in Japan [pp.26-42]Japanese Monochrome Painting at Seattle [pp.43-61]Date and Provenance of Death Masks of the Far East [pp.62-71]Some Refined Tool-Shapes of the Mongolian Stone Age [pp.72-76]Ordos Daggers and Knives: New Material, Classification and Chronology. Second Part: Knives [pp.77-162]Hiroshi Yoshida, 1876-1950 [pp.163-168]Histoire Ancienne de la Sibrie du Sud. Matriaux et recherches archologiques en U.R.S.S. [pp.169-189]In Memoriam: Roswell Sessoms Britton (Died February 2, 1951) [pp.190-191]Bibliographiauntitled [pp.192-195]untitled [pp.195-196]untitled [p.196]untitled [pp.196-197]untitled [pp.197-198]untitled [p.198]untitled [pp.198-202]untitled [p.202]untitled [pp.202-203]untitled [p.203]untitled [pp.203-204]untitled [p.204]Top Related