In 1906 the Artist and illustrator Nina Macpherson Cummings decided to visit some friends in Alexandria in Egypt, which sparked in her an interest in Ancient Egypt and its monuments. Whilst in Egypt she met Norman de Garis Davies. They became engaged, and were married in England in 1907 and then they immediately departed for Egypt where Norman had been offered employment as the head of the graphic section of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s new expedition to Egypt.
Although Nina was unemployed when they arrived in Egypt she began painting to assist her husband Norman in his work, whilst living in Luxor they met Alan Gardiner, a really interesting Character who is known as 'the Father of British Egyptology' who lived in a tomb on the West Bank of Luxor. Sir Alan had taken a walk over to the Valley of the Kings one day, and started the numerical record giving each of the known tombs at that time their own number, this is still in use today. Alan Gardiner wrote 'The Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians'.
Working from Luxor Nina and her husband Norman used their amazing artistic skills and polychromy (the art of painting in several colours, especially as applied to ancient pottery, sculpture, and architecture) to recreate tomb reliefs, using a technique that nearly replicated the exact brushstroke and colors of the tombs in the Valley of Kings and Queens, Dier El Medina, the Actual Artists tombs, and the tombs of the Nobles. Their copies reflected the actual scene, including any damage that may have been sustained over time or as the result of vandalism. In a some cases, the drawings were rendered to look like they would have when created several thousand years ago.
All the tombs in the Valley of the Kings show the kings in the companionship of the Gods, unlike the tombs of the Nobles that actually showed the nobles enjoying their life in paradise, or their earthly work, many of the nobles were Viziers, which held the responsibility of ruling the country if the king was away on campaign. The Nobles tombs are vibrant, and each tomb tells a different story which is interesting
Nina was offered work for the Metropolitan Museum, and after seeing her art work Sir Alan Gardiner Wilkinson also employed her, so she spent half of her time making drawings for the Metropolitan Museum and spent an equal amount of time replicating the tomb paintings for Alan Gardiner who came to an arrangement with Nina that he would acquire as much of her painting as he could afford. He collected her work until 1929
Nina painted this relief in the lovely little Tomb of Nakht TT52 on the hillside of Shiek Abd Qurna on the West bank. Nakht was an Astronomer of Amun during the reign of Tuthmose 1V in the 18th Dynasty
At the beginning of the twentieth century, it was normal for paintings in Egypt to be made using water colours, which produce a rather flat finish, Norman and Nina chose Theban Tomb 45 as a testing ground for experiments in colour copying. One of their first assistants, Francis Unwin, suggested the use of tempera, specifically egg tempera. The opaque result of this was much more satisfactory, and this technique became the basic method.
The tomb that they chose for their trial work was TT45, one of the Nobles tombs located in Sheikh Abd el-Qurna, on the west bank of the Nile, opposite modern Luxor. It is a very unusual tomb as It was originally the burial place of the ancient Egyptian named Djehuty (Thoth), who was a scribe of the offering-table of Mery, high-priest of Amun, head of all the weavers of Amun, and steward of Mery, high priest of Amun, during the reign of Amenhotep 11 of the 18th Dynasty, The tomb was reused several hundred years later, in the Ramesside Period, by a man named Djehutyemheb (Thothemheb). He was head of the makers of fine linen of the temple of Amun. Djehutyemheb was the son of the head of the weavers named Wennefer and his wife Isis. Djehutyemheb's wife was named Bak-Khonsu. She was a songstress of Amun.
Norman died in his sleep of heart failure on 5 November 1941, at the age of 76. This event, and the Second World War, drew the work of the Davis's to closure in Luxor. On her return to England to take her mind off her bereavement, she immediately set herself to sorting out the mass of material left over from their years of working in Egypt. Meeting and marrying Norman offered Nina a rewarding life that was enhanced with her creative talents, she was a quiet shy lady who was happy to paint and support her husband, and together they embraced and enhanced the art of Ancient Egypt. Nina died in 1965.
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