Women at a Banquet 1479 BC

Nina de Garis Davies made "Women at a Banquet" using watercolor and paper. Instead of oil on canvas or marble, Davies chose humbler materials. It’s a reproduction, a copy of an ancient Egyptian painting, an act of documentation rather than high art. Look closely and you’ll see how the watercolor's fluid, translucent quality allows the figures’ outlines to blend softly with the background, mimicking the worn surfaces of the original tomb painting. The muted palette, dominated by creams and browns, mirrors the aged pigments of the ancient artwork. Davies, as an artist-copyist, employed a skilled hand, trained to capture the essence of the original while acknowledging the passage of time. Yet it’s not just about technical skill. Consider her social role. She worked in Egypt in the early twentieth century, when archeology was a growing discipline. Her meticulous copies allowed museum visitors to see and appreciate ancient Egyptian art. This watercolor reminds us that art making exists in a social context and crosses boundaries of art, craft, labor, and class.