Artwork
House with Storerooms, Tomb of Ineni
House with Storerooms, Tomb of Ineni is an unspecified painting by Nina M. Davies. It dates from 1550 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
About this work
Overview
This work is a hand‑drawn reproduction of a wall scene from the tomb of Ineni, an official who served during Egypt’s early 18th Dynasty (circa 1550 BCE).
This work is a hand‑drawn reproduction of a wall scene from the tomb of Ineni, an official who served during Egypt’s early 18th Dynasty (circa 1550 BCE). Executed by British Egyptologist and illustrator Nina M. Davies in the mid‑20th century, the image records the original tomb painting for scholarly study. The drawing is part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s collection of Egyptian documentation.
Subject & Meaning
The scene portrays a modest domestic structure with a flat roof, a single low door, and a small tree sprouting against the façade. Two narrow windows with yellow‑tinted shutters flank the entrance, while the ground is rendered as a blend of earth and grass. Such depictions of everyday architecture offer insight into the living environment of elite households in early New Kingdom Egypt.
Technique & Style
Davies employed fine ink lines and a restrained palette of light browns, muted greens, and soft blues to mirror the faded pigments of the original tomb painting. Areas where the ancient paint has worn away are left blank, exposing the underlying plaster. The overall effect emphasizes the delicate, weathered quality of the source while maintaining clarity for academic reference.
History & Provenance
Nina M. Davies, together with her husband Norman de Garis Davies, spent decades copying tomb decorations throughout Egypt, producing a substantial archive of the period’s visual culture. This particular drawing entered the Metropolitan Museum of Art through the museum’s acquisition of the Davies collection, where it serves as a reference for researchers and conservators.
Context
Ineni’s tomb, located in the Theban necropolis, contains a range of funerary scenes that illustrate both ritual practices and aspects of daily life. The domestic vignette fits within a broader program intended to provide the deceased with familiar comforts in the afterlife, reflecting a New Kingdom belief in the continuity between earthly and eternal existence.
Artist & collection
Artist
The Egyptologists Nina M. Davies (6 January 1881 – 21 April 1965) and Norman de Garis Davies (1865–5 November 1941) were a married couple of illustrators and copyists who worked in the early and mid-twentieth century…
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