Digital Giza | Jewelry: butterfly inlays from silver bracelet

Object(s) photograph: Site: Giza; view: G 7000 X

Turquoise, lapis lazuli, and carnelian inlays, representing two butterflies and one round dot, from silver bracelets; made up from left over pieces and mounted.

ID: MFAB_47.1701
Alternate IDs: 47.1701; MFAB_47.1701
Department: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Classification: Jewelry & adornment-Bracelets, armlets, anklets
Period: Old Kingdom, Dynasty 4, reign of Snefru - reign of Khufu
Entry Date: 2575–2528 B.C.
Title: Jewelry: butterfly inlays from silver bracelet
Medium: Turquoise, lapis lazuli, carnelian
Dimensions: Height x width x length: 0.3 x 7 x 15.5 cm (mounted) (1/8 x 2 3/4 x 6 1/8 in.)
Credit Line: Harvard University—Boston Museum of Fine Arts Expedition
Provenance: G 7000 X, Hetepheres I
Bibliography: Egyptian Art in the Age of the Pyramids. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1999, p. 217, cat. 32. Manuelian, Peter Der. "Excavating the Old Kingdom. The Giza Necropolis and Other Mastaba Fields." In Egyptian Art in the Age of the Pyramids. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1999, p. 148. Markowitz, Yvonne J., Joyce L. Haynes, and Rita E. Freed. Egypt in the Age of the Pyramids: Highlights from the Harvard University–Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Expedition. Boston: MFA Publications, 2002, pp. 48-51, cat. 1c. No author. The Tomb of Queen Hetep-heres. Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, no date, pp. 8-9. Reisner, George A. "Hetep-Heres, Mother of Cheops." Bulletin of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston 25, supplement (May 1927), pp. 21, 26. Reisner, George A. "The Household Furniture of Queen Hetep-heres I." Bulletin of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston 27, No. 164 (December 1929), pp. 85, 87, figs. 5-7. Smith, William Stevenson. "The Tomb of Hetep-heres I" Bulletin of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston 51, No. 284 (June 1953), p. 27, fig. 6. Smith, William Stevenson. Ancient Egypt as Represented in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, 1960 (6th ed.), p. 69, fig. 41. Smith, William Stevenson. "The Old Kingdom in Egypt," The Cambridge Ancient History, rev. ed. of vols. I & II, Cambridge University Press, 1962, p. 26.
Notes: This object was excavated by the Harvard University–Boston Museum of Fine Arts Expedition, but was not recorded in any object register book. 1926: excavated by the Harvard University-Museum of Fine Arts Expedition; 1947: gift of the government of Egypt. (Accession Date: January 1, 1947)