Soon, makers of decorative pieces were producing ornate and delicate items for their most discerning clients. The uniqueness and beauty of ancient Egyptian relics created a demand for copies. Wealthy individuals accumulated collections of original items taken from finds in the Egyptian desert. The British Museum gradually expanded its collection of artifacts, drawing crowds of visitors. Later, when the exhibition building was moved to another London location, Owen Jones, its Joint Director of Decoration and an influential design specialist, created an elaborate Egyptian Court, complete with standing figures copied from originals.ĭressing With Egyptomania In Mind Egyptian-style necklace with scarabs, late 19th-century, via The Walters Art Museum, BaltimoreĪs the century progressed, treasures from Egypt flooded into London and all parts of Britain. These were copies of two figures at the entrance to the temple at Abu Simbel in Egypt. ![]() Housed inside an innovative and spectacular glass construction in the heart of London, it was a showcase of design, technology, and culture, bringing all the nations of the world together under one roof.Īmong a bewildering variety of over 100,000 other displays, visitors could gaze in wonder upon giant statues showing the Egyptian pharaoh, Rameses II. Roberts’ work produced a sense of Egypt’s reality, encouraging travel pioneer Thomas Cook in his efforts to create tourism for the growing number of Victorians willing to make the journey.Įgyptomania Finds Its Home In Victorian London Egyptian Royal figures in the Crystal Palace, London, 1850s, via Historic Englandīy mid-century, Egyptomania had secured a place in the Victorian imagination, allowing it to be included in The Great Exhibition of the Works of All Nations, which was the creation of Queen Victoria’s husband, Prince Albert. This was Egyptomania and history joined together as a travelogue. His work is meticulous, detailed, and realistic. Victorian visitors would have found Roberts’ portrayals of the ancient sites accurate. While John Martin focused on the emotional power of history, Roberts showed the detail of historical Egyptian sites, such as the pyramids. His book, Sketches in Egypt and Nubia (1846-1849), from which lithographs were produced, delighted Queen Victoria. Less influenced by Romanticism, Scottish artist David Roberts (1796-1864) traveled to Egypt in 1838 and, from that journey, produced works that were collected in an illustrated book that became celebrated in Mid-Victorian Britain. Other artists used different strategies to show Egypt to Victorians. Pyramids of Gizeh by David Roberts R.A., 1839, via The Royal Academy Imagining Egypt’s Reality The Great Sphinx. It reflected the worries and doubts of Victorian Britain.Įgypt: A Source of the Sublime Seventh Plague of Egypt by John Martin, 1823, via Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Egyptomania became more than just a cultural phenomenon. Ancient Egypt was a source of inspiration but also a warning from the past. Worries about imperial decline, already a subject of extensive writings, caused Victorian Britons to regard Egyptian history as an exemplar and warning of their potential future. A new awareness of the fate of the Egyptian dynasties made Victorians ask questions related to their own empire. For the rest of the century, Egyptian history and the stylistic features found in its artifacts influenced many parts of British culture in art, architecture, and literature.īack home, exhibitions featured displays designed to evoke Egypt of the past. Writers and artists made their way to Egypt, eager to discover and depict all that Egypt offered in journals, books, and paintings. The craze for Egyptian objects sparked innovation in design, incorporating elements from the country’s ancient buildings and parchments. ![]() ![]() With increased travel to the country, resulting in numerous written accounts of its history and geography, the Victorian imagination was ignited by new ideas of the past and fresh, unexplored destinations for the present. Revealed Secrets Ignite Egyptomania: A Growing Obsession With Ancient Egypt The Egyptian Court at Crystal Palace at Sydenham, London, 1860, via Architectural Digest
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