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Title: The Collector's Eye: Masterpieces of Egyptian Art from the Thalassic Collection, Ltd. by Peter Lacovara, Betsy Teasley Trope, Sue H. D'Auria ISBN: 1-928917-02-X Publisher: Michael C. Carlos Museum Pub. Date: 01 August, 2001 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $35.00

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Average Customer Rating: 3.5 (2 reviews)

Rating: 2
Summary: Masterpieces or Fragments?
Comment: My old OED defines a masterpiece as a "consummate piece of workmanship". Consummate, if you are wondering, is defined as "complete, perfect".

And this gets right to the heart of my problem with this book; most of the objects described are damaged or incomplete. They are all interesting and commentary about them can help illuminate aspects of ancient egyptian material culture. But I think the question needs to be asked whether it is appropriate for a museum to present to the lay public such an eclectic group of objects as "Masterpieces"?

For instance, sculpture, long the focus of study as one of the "fine arts" of ancient Egypt - is represented by twenty-six pieces. There is no question that the Amenhotep III figure of the god Ptah-Sokar-Osiris is a masterpiece (#11) - or the extraordinary 30th Dynasty head of a priest (#25) - but how many more are there? Two or three? - the remainder being too damaged to convey the full mastery of the original craftsman (e.g. #'s 3, 6, 9, 15, 22, 23) and a few being works of just plain ordinariness (e.g. #'s 1, 10, 12, 21).

Those of us that love egyptian objects can often extrapolate from a faceless queen (#6), nose (#8) or the stumpy torso of a legless, headless sphinx (#9), the beauty of the complete, original work. But I question the fairness of asking the public to see masterpieces in these fragments, especially when most of the entries in the catalogue discuss arcane points of style and multiple comparisons with far flung works that the reader or visitor to the exhibition cannot possibly be expected to have seen.

This problem continues throughout the book, culminating in a truly unremarkable group of amulets. In addition, it troubles me that two successive entries (#'s 24 & 25) are written from strongly competing scholarly viewpoints with no effort made to explain the differences to the public. And when is it a scholar's duty to reveal that the authenticity of a work of art is the subject of very lively debate?

As a record of the collection the book is OK; the photographs are excellent, the design pleasing. But if you are looking for a beautifully illustrated book about ancient Egyptian art right now, look at "Eternal Egypt" the companion volume to an exhibition of "Masterworks" from the British Museum currently touring the U.S.A (U Cal Press, 2001). This volume is largely written by Edna R. Russman, the best art-histocally oriented scholar in egyptology and features truly extraordinary objects. Many of the entries in this work will leave you with glorious, spine-chilling new insights into the astonishing arts of ancient egypt.

Rating: 5
Summary: Egyptian Masterpieces
Comment: This is really a stunning book with lots of color pictures. Many artefacts are shown from several angles. There's precise information about each object given. At the end of each short article there's an extensive list of notes and bibliographic information for further reading.