Kárpáti Zoltán - Liptay Éva - Varga Ágota szerk.: A Szépművészeti Múzeum közleményei 101. (Budapest, 2004)

HEDVIG GYŐRY: On the Collars of the Gamhud Coffins

1. Fragment of the neckband and collar of coffin, inv. no. 51.2015, Budapest, Museum of Fine Arts C. As a new feature, the design described just above was first appended on the bulked coffins by the grid pattern, which then fairly rapidly replaced the wedgeshaped lotus pattern (1.). It can be deduced from the low number of coffins bearing both patterns simultaneously. On coffin inv. no. 51.1989 (fig. 3) still a single row of grid pattern appears with three strips of wedged-shaped lotus pattern (1.), whereas on coffin inv. no. 51.2007 two-two strips of grid and wedged-shaped lotus patterns can be seen on the collar, the central part of which, as well as two stripes of the neckband, were decorated also with rows of grid pattern. Three rows of wedged-shaped lotus pattern are alternating with four grid-patterned ones on coffin inv. no. 51.2014, while the collar of coffin inv. no. 51.1990 (fig. 4) contains only six rows of grid, even though two lines of wedged-shaped lotus have been retained on the neck-band. The appearance of the vertical zigzag pattern could also be related to this process. D. It seems reasonable to rank two coffins as a separate group: the bulked coffin inv. no. 51.1997, and the rhomboid coffin inv. no. 51.2016 (fig. 5). Both display the wedgedshaped lotus (3.) and the grid patterns simultaneously, but with slightly different iconography than group C. On the bulked coffin, beside the widely used wedged-shaped lotus pattern, three more rows can be seen in which the loti were simplified into a fully wedge shape; the rhomboid coffin contains only rows of this special loti form (3.). Moreover, the grid pattern applied on these coffins is quite unique as well, since it consists of two red and one blue horizontal lines. It may have come about as a regional variant, yet the influence of a neighbouring workshop should also be reckoned with. E. Prolonged existence could be assumed for group E, which includes a great number of bulked and rhomboid coffins, on which the rhythm of the stripes emanates from the