Cartonnage Mummy Case

c. 50 BC - AD 50

Cartonnage Mummy Case , c. 50 BC - AD 50. Egypt, Late Ptolemaic Dynasty to early Roman Empire. Cartonnage, painted and gilded, with glass inlays; overall: 20.5 x 57 cm (8 1/16 x 22 7/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust 1914.715 This coffin is smaller and later in date than the other coffins in this gallery. It is made of cartonnage, which used layers of linen to create a material similar to papier-mâché. The painted portrait head displays the influence of Roman portraiture at this time and incorporates both gilding and glass inlays. Despite the fragile materials, this mummy case survived due to the very dry desert climate in which it was found.