Nykara and Family: A Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund Artwork (1890) - Research Paper

Introduction

Nykara and his family is an architectural statue of a family that was found in the Museum of Brooklyn (Reeder 135). The statute portrays a man and his family that is made from limestone. The sculpture is created by an artist named Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund (Reeder 133). The artist used various colours in decorating the statute to depict multiple portrayals of the statute in both architectural and archaeological history.

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Title and Date of the Work of Art

The piece of art known as "Nykara and His Family" is an ancient statue that consists of a man named Nykara and his wife and son (Reeder 137). The icon is made of limestone, and it is painted in red with some yellowish colour. The statute has been in existence since the work of art was established in between 2455-2350 B.C.E (Hassaan 26). The work was kept in the Brooklyn museum as an archive to represent the family that existed in ancient times the field of architecture.

Media/Medium Dimensions

The media of this sculpture is primarily composed of limestone pigments that are designed from specific dimensions to depict the exact architectural message of the significance of measurements in every work. The dimensions are definitive to represent the son, wife, and Nyakra. The measurements of the statute are 22 5/8 x 14 x 10 7/8 in (57.5 x 36.8 x22.7cm) (Reeder 139). The description actualizes the size and shape of the art in an architectural language. Therefore, the art can be easily explained in terms of its dimensions to bring the architectural meaning in any side of the statute.

Owner/Museum Movement

The sculpture is present at the Brooklyn Museum, where it can access by various individuals who are interested in its history regarding the inception of architecture in the world. The art is currently owned by the Brooklyn Museum that is located in New York City. The museum holds an illustration of multiple architectural works of approximately 1.5 million collections (Kritsky 113). Therefore, the museum maintains an ancient movement of the old kingdom to the 18th Dynasty that takes the count on events regarding the development of architectural history from various spheres (Hassaan 12).

Period of the Work

The sculpture was made during the period of old kingdom dynasties within the Egyptian official hierarchy (Hassaan 14). It was created when Nykara was an ancient Egyptian official of the fifth Dynasty (Hassaan 16). Nykara held a high position in the kingdom where he was an overseer of the double granary and also the overseer of the granary of the latest events. Besides, he was also a priest of the sun temple of the King Nuseme; thus, he was held with higher esteems that made it necessary to design a piece of art that would act as a recognition of the family in contributing towards architectural developments of the region (Hassaan 11).

Information About the Artist

Charles Edwin was an American Archeologist from the United States. He was born in 1833 in Rhode Island and went to school at Brown University (Kritsky 115). The studied linguistic but was not able to graduate due to his health complications. He, therefore, had to engage in more practical work to express his architectural skills in an artwork rather than getting a job from his studies. Lack of graduation made it a bit difficult for the artist to excel in the white colour career line and therefore decided to express his skills on the actual artwork.

He married Charlotte Beebe Wilbour, and they had a son whose name was Victor Wilbour (Kritsky 113). After recovering, he joined tribute as a journalist, of which he continued with his education and studied law. The artist had then diversified his skills from the field of architecture to law. Besides he had journalistic skills that significantly contributed to the designing of the statute. Since he possessed a skillset of law, journalism and architecture, Charles managed to design the sculpture that considered both the three disciplines (Kritsky 114). The art represented the reign of Nykara and became accessible to the extent that it was later taken to the significant museum for future references. It is through the journalistic knowledge that Charles was able to stir the desire of people to take a keen interest in the art. Wilbour worked for long as a journalist, of which he got interested in studying Egyptian Antiquities.

He later moved from the States and travelled around the globe, visiting libraries and consulting archaeological sites. The global tours gave the artist a great sense of architectural comprehension since he interacted with multiple scenarios that related to archaeology. He then met with other archaeologists, and they took a visit to Africa along the Nile River (Kritsky 113). The main reason was to come and learn the African way of life and by taking various records related to African life directly. He spent his sixteen years in Egypt from 1880-1896 while exploring the trending archaeological stories in the region (Kritsky 112). He travelled around while in the country while taking records of the existing and past dynasties to create an album of the occurrence of events as the history developed, and later, he bought a house in Egypt.

The artist was also a writer who majored in the history of Egypt hence making him to effectively create the sculpture in a manner that expressed the leadership styles and the stories behind architectural development in history. He did the work both in ancient times and the 19th century as well (Kritsky 113). The artist wrote about his experiences in Egypt during the period when he was exploring the country in various spheres to gain a comprehensive understanding of their way of life along with keeping a calendar of events within the land. During the period, he took pictures and also provided detailed accounts of all his observations during his travels. He sent these letters to his families, and later this letter was published and placed in one of the leading museums to represent the past chronology of events in the history of architectural development.

Description of the Work of the Art

The statue of Nykara and his family is a sculpture that consists of three people. It represents a simple nuclear family that is made up of a husband, wife, and son. Nykara, who is the main subject of this statue, is seated in the middle of the icon; he has a piece of clothing around his waist. The artist placed him in the middle to represent the significant subject of the portrait regarding the underlying meaning.

His wife, Khuen-nub, is standing on his left side. She has a wig on her head and is dressed in a full dress that covers up to her legs. The code of dressing depicted the period of inception of architecture when people had one formal way of dressing for women and a different one for men. The wife is placed on the left side to depict her significance in the whole structure. Besides, the position of the wife is related to the archaeological expressions that explained the essence of women in the nuclear family.

Their son Ankhmara is standing beside his father on the right side and is completely naked and has a pointing finger on his mouth. The son's portrait also represents the period of events that marked the history of architecture. He is behind the father in the image to represent the position of children in the early periods. His image indicates that he is a secondary subject of this particular sculpture.

Generally, Nykara image shows that he is the head of the house and an essential member of this family. While seated down, he appears to be the same height as that of his wife and son. It indicates that he loves and respects his family very much. He is a powerful man in the kingdom, but when he comes to his family, he wants to be seen as equal to his wife and some. He is not harsh and expects his wife and son to be free with him. The portrait indicates that he might be very tall when he stands up.

Iconography

(Available at Kritsky 117)

The position of various individuals in the portraits creates a clear sense of iconography. For instance, Khuen-nub, who is the wife of Nykara, is seated on his left hand. This indicates that she is the family's support. She is his wife, whom he loves and expects her so see him as his equal in the house. She has a wig on her head, but also her natural hair is slightly seen on her head beneath her wig. The lines are plaited horizontally to represent the straight-forwardness. The wig on her head indicates how the women her noticed in the ancient old kingdom. They were not allowed to expose their original selves to the outside world. That is why she is seen wearing a long dress that covers her whole body.

Ankhmara is the only son to Nykara. He is standing on the right side of his father. It indicates that he will be his successor. He will inherit whatever his father will have. He is the same height as his father and mother. It portrays him as a very tallboy. Probably like his father, who is of the same height as them while seated. The boy is also naked and has his pointing finger on his mouth. His nakedness indicates that he is just a child who is not yet aware of his sexuality; that is why he sees nothing wrong with being naked. He places his hand on his mouth. This gesture can be an indication that children are not allowed to speak in front of the elder, and they should only listen. His finger on his hand is also an indication that he is only a child. He has a side lock of hair. The boy and his father are painted darker than his mother. It indicated the complexion of the Egyptians, where the women have a darker skin colour compared to men.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Nykara, and his family is a statue that gives the audience a clear summary of the ancient Egyptians, their culture, and their ways of life through comprehensive architectural design. The statute portrays the history of art and architecture while providing insights regarding their relationship. The mode of design describes the chronology of events along with the meaning of various structures in the ancient periods of architectural development.

Works Cited

Hassaan, Galal Ali. "Mechanical engineering in ancient egypt, Part XXXIII: Stone statues industry (Predynastic to Old Kingdom)." International Journal of Recent Engineering Science 30 (2016): 5-16.

Kritsky, Gene. The tears of Re: Beekeeping in ancient Egypt. Oxford University Press, 2015.

Reeder, Jan Glier. High Style: Masterworks from the Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at the MSimmons, Walter O., and Rosemarie Emanuele. "Malefemale giving differentials: are women more altruistic?." Journal of Economic Studies (2007).etropolitan Museum of Art. Metropolitan museum of art, 2010.