Brent Museum volunteer curates her first exhibition!

Barham’s Egyptian Collection

I have been volunteering at Brent Museum for about 9 months, both front of house and also behind the scenes. Last week I was given the opportunity to curate my own exhibition to be displayed within the Barham Collection Display. To which I jumped at the chance of looking through the Egyptian artefacts within the collections (donated by George Titus Barham) in hope of finding some hidden gems. After graduating from UCL with a 2:1 in my Undergraduate Egyptian Archaeology degree, I thought this would be a perfect opportunity for my personal development as well as providing the residents of Brent with an insight into Egyptian Archaeology.

 After a trip to the stores, Briony and I returned with twelve very different artefacts (two of which are fakes!) The objects range in ideology, material, size and function. I thought this vast display of material culture would not only represent the diversity of Barham’s collections, but also the lives of the Ancient Egyptians.  Among the objects I chose to display are four shabti figurines, an Udjat eye, a figurine of Sekhmet, and two scarab beads.

However the most interesting artefact I found was a piece of linen that was branded with a small browning label, which read ‘a piece of mummy wrapping.’  This immediately caught my eye and I began to look at this artefact in more detail, particularly the label.  Intriguingly, the label attached to the wrapping is written on the back of a 1929 Christmas Cracker motto taken from Shakespeare’s play ‘As you like it,’ (Act 2, Sc 1). The motto reads ‘Hath not old custom made, This life more sweet.’   Which may provide some clues as to when this mummy wrapping was acquired…?

 

I won’t reveal too much information on my own thoughts about these objects as I would like you to come and see them for yourself and explore your own ideas about their history. Not only the lives they have lived with their Egyptian creators, but their lives outside the Egyptian civilisation and their acquisition by Barham. Finally, their residence in the London Borough of Brent in the year 2011 A.D, thousands of years after they were originally made (well apart from those two fakes!!) So come along and have a look for yourself!

 

Posted by Leanne