Egyptian Cartonnage

The painting on this rare Egyptian cartonnage draws the viewer’s attention to the feet and sandals of the deceased. Its underside depicts conquered enemies painted on the soles of the sandals. Mummification began as an elite practice but by the Roman period was so democratized that many could afford decorated cartonnage coverings for their heads and feet. The exterior of these casings were often extraordinarily decorated and in some examples, the foot cases are painted with representations of slaves or enemies of the Egyptian state on the undersides of the soles, symbolically keeping them ‘underfoot’.