Prisse Daavennes. Egyptian Art

Салима Икрам

A lifelong devotee of ancient Egyptian and Oriental culture, the French author, artist, and scholar Achille-Constant-Theodore-Emile Prisse dAvennes (1807-1879) is famed as one of the most influential Egyptologists, long before the discipline was even properly established.

Prisse first embarked on his explorations in 1836, documenting sites throughout the Nile Valley, often under his Egyptian pseudonym, Edris Effendi. Prisses first publication of notes, drawings, and squeezes (a kind of frottage) came in the form of Les Monuments egyptiens, a modest collection of 51 plates, but one met with considerable acclaim in popular and intellectual circles. Encouraged by his success, Prisse returned to Egypt in the late 1850s to expand his work into the collection LHistoire de lart egyptien—together with his first volume, these two tomes make up a truly complete survey of Egyptian art.

His albums cover architecture, drawing, sculpture, painting, and industrial or minor arts, with sections, plans, architectural details, and surface decoration all documented with utmost sensitivity and accuracy. Even when compared to the products of the great state-sponsored expeditions to Egypt of this period, Prisses compendium remains the largest, single-handed illustrated record of Egyptian art in existence.