Tátrai Vilmos szerk.: A Szépművészeti Múzeum közleményei 95. (Budapest, 2001)

VOZIL, IRÉN: Technical analysis, restoration and evaluation of material testing of the bronze statuette of Imhotep

TECHNICAL ANALYSIS, RESTORATION AND EVALUATION OF MATERIAL TESTING OF THE BRONZE STATUETTE OF IMHOTEP In memóriám Vilmos Wessetzky One special piece in the Egyptian Collection of the Museum of Fine Arts is the distinguished looking seated votive bronze statue of Imhotep,

1 which has come from the Fejérváry-Pulszky Collection.

2 Inscriptions were revealed after removing the corrosion on the Imhotep statue, which was restored in 1989 and published for the first time by Vilmos Wessetzky in a scientific paper.

3 Based on thorough prosopographic, onomastic, paléographie and iconographie research, Péter Gaboda assumed that this richly decorated and exceptionally beautiful Imhotep statue was produced in the early Saite Period when the Imhotep cult was officially being introduced (during the reign of Psammetic I).

4 The present investigation of the artistically produced bronze statue of the Egyptian demigod covers the technics of processing, style features, depictions and ornaments revealed during restoration. The investigation efforts have been made to reveal and prove a relationship between these factors and the analytical results.

5 Even before starting the restoration process, it was noticed that the pieces of the statue group consisting of two parts: a body and its footstool, and a chair and its base do not fit accurately to each other. It could also be seen that both the materials and modes of processing are significantly different for the two main parts. 1 Inv.no. 51.2313. H: 17,6 cm (figure); 2,3 cm x 2 cm (footstool attached to the figure); H: 15,6 cm (chair). Base: 1,9 cm x 6.8 cm x 14.6 cm (attached to the chair). 2 János György Szilágyi found the provenance of the bronze statue while doing research in relation to the history of the Collection, see: Szilágyi, J.Gy., in Pulszky Károly Emlékének (In memóriám Pulszky Károly), Budapest 1988, p. 33 and 65. In association with the Pulszky commemorative exhibition László Török dealt with the history, cult and dating of the statue, see: Török L., The Travels of an Ancient Egyptian Sage. The Imhotep Statue of the Fejérváry-Pulszky Collection, in Ferenc Pulszky (1814-1897) Memorial Exhibition, Budapest 1997, pp. 33-46 and p. 146-154. 3 Wessetzky, V., Statuette dTmhotep en bronze avec inscription, BullMusHongrBa 72 (1990) pp.

7-14. After completing the restoration the statue was taken out of the permanent exhibition and was exhibited as the "Artwork of the Month" in 1989. The statue is dated to the Ptolemaic Period by Vilmos Wessetzky and László Török (ibid). 4 Gaboda, P., Un magistral bronze dTmhotep daté de l'époque de l'institutionnalisation de son culte? BullMusHongrBa 88-89 (1998), pp.

7-24. The present article was written at the same time as that of Péter Gaboda, however its publication had been delayed due to technical reasons. 5 Tóth, M., et al. "Material testing of the Imhotep bronze statuette," in this issue. I would like to express my gratitude to the experts of (HAS) Geochemical Research Laboratory, as well as to the Material and Environmental Chemistry Research Laboratory: MáriaTóth, Imre Bertóti. Miklós Mohai and István Fórizs for carrying out the material testing for me.