Model King Tut Sarcophagus
ClassificationsSculpture-models
Artist
Claire Doret
(Swiss Born, 1887 - 1982)
Date1930s
Made AtLos Angeles, California, United States, North America
MediumCeramic, wood and paint
Dimensions13 1/2 × 14 3/4 in. (34.3 × 37.5 cm)
Credit LineGift of Ms. Katherine Hotchkiss
Object number99.27.1
DescriptionThis miniature 3-piece ceramic and wood replica of King Tut's innermost sarcophagus was handmade in the 1930s, most likely by a Swiss-born American named Claire Doret, probably under the pseudonym of Hygia May. It was created after the discovery of the actual tomb in the 1920s. Doret had moved to Los Angeles from Switzerland in 1920 to work as a dental technician, making her the first female in her profession on the west coast. A true Renaissance woman, she enjoyed painting, sculpting, wood carving, and making jewelry. One source indicates that Doret painstakingly worked on this piece for years using her dental tools, finally finishing in 1931. The result is a highly detailed and masterfully crafted ceramic sarcophagus and rather than a mummy, an anatomically correct skeleton.On November 4, 1922 archaeologist Howard Carter uncovered the front steps of a tomb in an Egyptian desert valley. The door to the tomb was intact and sealed with symbols from Ancient Egypt’s Eighteenth Dynasty. Tutankhamun was less famous for his accomplishments in life than for the unplundered status of his tomb. His most significant act was to return Egypt’s religion back to its original orthodoxy after it had been co-opted into a vehicle for self-aggrandizement by his father.
On View
Not on viewCollections
20th century
December 1966
c. 1750
206 BCE - 220 CE
19th Century
