User:Chunyu Ma/Egyptian Revival architecture

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Household Furniture and Interior Decoration, Thomas Hope, 1807
Travels in Egypt and Nubia, Fredrick Norden, 1757

Egyptian Revival architecture, part of the Egyptian Revival cultural movement, gained prominence in parts of Europe and the United States during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, after archaeological excavations by Napoleon, Thomas Hope, Dominique Vivant Denon and others. Islam and pan-Arabic historians also brought renewed interest in ancient Egyptian arts and culture to these places.[1] The documentation of 'Household Furniture and Interior Decoration'[2] published in 1807, and Fredrick Norden's 'Travels in Egypt and Nubia'[3] published in 1757, are crucial representations of Ancient Egyptian Architecture, which portray imagery used throughout Egyptian Revival design. Although less widespread than Greek-inspired classical architecture, many prominent works were built in Britain, the United States, Germany, and many European nations. These buildings were built for private clients and for public functions alike, and many imitated elements of Egyptian architecture such as battered walls, cavetto cornices, solar disks, hieroglyphic texts, and other features[4]. However, interest in the style ultimately faded away in the middle of the nineteenth century. It is important to note that Egyptian Revival architecture in the British Isles although derived from Ancient Egyptian architecture as well, was primarily associated with funerary or commemorative monuments such as pyramids and obelisks.

History[edit]

Much of the early knowledge about ancient Egyptian arts and architecture was filtered through the lens of the Classical world, including ancient Rome. Prior to Napoleon's influence an early example is the Obelisk of Domitian, erected in 1651 by Bernini on top of the Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi in Piazza Navona, Rome. Which went on to inspire several Egyptian obelisks constructed in Ireland during the early 18th century.

After the Napoleonic invasion there was a sudden increase of the number of works of art and the fact that, for the first time, entire buildings began to be built to resemble those of ancient Egypt. In France and Britain this was at least partially inspired by successful war campaigns undertaken by each country while in Egypt.

Egyptian buildings had also been built as garden follies. The most elaborate was probably the one built by Frederick I, Duke of Württemberg in the gardens of the Château de Montbéliard. It included an Egyptian bridge across which guests walked to reach an island with an elaborate Egyptian-influenced bath house. Designed by the duke's court architect, Jean Baptiste Kleber, the building had a billiards room and a bagnio.

Rise of Egyptian Arts and Culture[edit]

For Napoleon’s intention of cataloguing the sights and findings from the campaign, hundreds of artists and scientists were enlisted to document “antiquities, ethnography, architecture, and natural history of Egypt”; and later these notes and sketches were taken back to Europe. In 1803, the compilation of “Description de l’Egypte” was started based on these documents and lasted over twenty years.

Description de l'Egypte, 1823

The content in this archaeological text, includes translation of the Rosetta Stone, pyramids and other scenes, arouse interests in Egyptian arts and culture in Europe and America[5].

According to Curl, people started to present their imaginations about Egypt in various ways. First, combinations of crocodiles, pyramids, mummies, sphinxes, and other motifs were widely circulated. In 1800, an Egyptian opera festival was staged in Drury Lane, London, with Egyptian-themed sets and costumes. On the other hand, William Capon (1757–1827) suggested a massive pyramid for Shooter's Hill as a National Monument, while George Smith (1783–1869) designed an Egyptian-style tomb for Ralph Abercromby in Alexandria[6].

According to David Brownlee, the 1798 Karlsruhe Synagogue, an early building by the influential Friedrich Weinbrenner was "the first large Egyptian building to be erected since antiquity." According to Diana Muir Appelbaum, it was "the first public building (that is, not a folly, stage set, or funeral monument) in the Egyptian revival style." The ancient Egyptian influence was mainly shown in the two large engaged pylons flanking the entrance; otherwise the windows and entrance of the central section were pointed arches, and the overall plan conventional, with Neo-Gothic details.

Rise of Egyptian Revival in America[edit]

Filatrice Gilt Bronze Fittings, Henry Kirke Brown, 1850

Around 1870s, Americans started to get interested in other cultures, includes Japan, Middle East and North African. These were reflected in various decorative arts, especially architecture and furniture. Egyptian motifs and symbols were commonly used in the design including elements of "gilt bronze fittings shaped like sphinxes, Egyptian scenes woven into textiles, and geometric renderings of plants such as palm fronds"[5].

The reason behind the rise of Egyptian Revival architecture in the United States is due to the long and great history of the ancient Egyptian civilization. Architectures with an Egyptian character have a powerfully compelling feel. They gain stability and power in their primitive and massive forms, expressing emotions and embodying a strong sense of monumentality. This style of architectural revival signifies that the United States has drawn on the inner spirit of the ancient Egyptian civilization and has inherited all the great qualities of that civilization. A young nation such as the United States needed to actively seek the support of the ancient Egyptian civilization to refute the accusations of European critics that the United States was a nation without a history. It was for this reason that the American rural cemetery movement, the construction of monumental obelisks, flourished.

The influence of Egyptian Revival on the cemetery design and culture in United States has been well represented by the Green-wood cemetery park in New York. Because of the mixing of various cultures in Brooklyn by immigration, the Green-wood cemetery park has provided a high tolerance environment for the Egyptian Revival. Besides a certain amount of the typical Egyptian element obelisks, the variety of the monumental constructions in Egyptian Revival style have reflected the thoughts of people and the local culture as well as the acceptance of imported style. Under the background of the population of Christian Victorian funerary art, the design and implementation of Egyptian Revival monuments have shown the eternity and uniqueness in a certain degree.[7]

Some Americans in the 1880s believed that the United States was a nation without art and therefore wanted to innovate in the field of aesthetic design to distinguish it from Egyptian pyramids and obelisks, Greek temples, and Gothic spires. But implementing such innovations was difficult, and as Clarence King said, “Till there is an American race there cannot be an American style”. The creation of the American style was also hindered by the fact that the ethnic mix of the American people did not constitute a race.[8]. In the time that followed, however, America's own culture was assimilating Egyptian revivalist architecture, and their tectonic significance became unstable. This may be because the United States of the early 20th century was a confident nation, and the approach of defining one's own spiritual world by establishing a connection to a great civilization like ancient Egypt faded in such a cultural context.[9]

Late revivals[edit]

Hieroglyphics[edit]

Many notable works in Britain featured attempts by architects to translate and depict messages in Egyptian hieroglyphics[10]. Although sincere attempts at compositions, understanding of hieroglyphic syntax and semantics has advanced since they were built and errors have been discovered in many of these works. Although both public and private buildings were built in Britain in the Egyptian Revival style, the vast majority of those with attempts at accurate inscriptions were public works or on entrances to public buildings[10].

In 1824, French classical scholar and egyptologist J.F. Champollion published Precis du systeme hieroglyphique des anciens Egyptiens in 1824, which spurred the first notable attempts to decipher the hieroglyphic language in Britain[10]. Joseph Bonomi's inscriptions in the entrance lodges to Abney Park cemetery in 1840 was the first real recorded attempt to compose a legible text. An Egyptologist himself, Bonomi and other scholars such as Samuel Birch, Samuel Sharpe, William Osburne, and others[10] would compose texts for a variety of other British projects throughout the nineteenth century - including Marshall's Mill in Leeds, an aedicula in the grounds of the Hartwell House, and as part of an Egyptian exhibition in the Crystal Palace after it was re-erected in southeast London[10].

The content of the inscriptions varied depending on the nature of their specific projects. The Crystal Palace exhibition features several different inscriptions, with the main inscription detailing the construction and content of the hall and proclaiming it as an educational asset to the community. It ends with a message to invoke good fortune, translated as 'let it be prosperous.[10]' Other smaller inscriptions on the cornice of the exhibit entrance feature the names of the builders and a message in Greek wishing for the health and well-being of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert[10], members of the royal family. The main inscription is accompanied by an English translation, with the characters spaced to match the position of the English words. However, Chris Elliot notes that the translation overly relies on phonetic transliteration and features some unusual characters for words that were difficult to translate into hieroglyphs[10].

Characteristics[edit]

Like other ancient styles, Egyptian Revival can be characterized by its monumentality and specific forms of sculptural decoration[4]. Although these forms were never entirely understood in works built in the Americas, for example, many works of this type featured battered walls, which are thickest at the base and become narrower as they rise; cavetto cornices or variations on them, which are characterized by their quarter-circle profile; thick columns whose capitals were carved to resemble reeds or palm fronds; solar disks - a type of winged ornamental carving placed above doorways or on cornices; and even hieroglyphic inscriptions[10] like those featured on the entrances of Abney Park cemetery in London.

As with any other architectural style, the architects of Egyptian Revival works varied in their appropriations of these characteristics. Some buildings were 'Egyptianized' only on their interiors, presenting an unassuming exterior. Others were more explicit in tying their buildings to an imagined Egyptian past through elaborate interior ornamentation and frescoes of ancient Egyptian life. Specifically, the First Presbyterian Church of Nashville, Tennessee, designed by William Strickland, was refurbished from 1881-82 to incorporate these changes[11].

Examples[edit]

North America[edit]

Europe, Russia, Africa and Australia[edit]

Post-Modern variants[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Wood, Michael (1998). "The Use of the Pharaonic Past in Modern Egyptian Nationalism". Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt. 35: 179. doi:10.2307/40000469. ISSN 0065-9991.
  2. ^ Hope, Thomas (1807). Household furniture and interior decoration. Printed by T. Bensley ..., for Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme.
  3. ^ Ludvig., Norden, Frederik (1757). Travels in Egypt and Nubia. Davis & Reymers. OCLC 312579347.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ a b Eckels, Claire Wittler (1950). "The Egyptian Revival in America". Archaeology. 3: 164–69 – via JSTOR.
  5. ^ a b www.metmuseum.org https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/erev/hd_erev.htm. Retrieved 2021-09-30. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  6. ^ Curl, James Stevens (2013). The Egyptian Revival: Ancient Egypt as the Inspiration for Design Motifs in the West. The Egyptian Revival: Ancient Egypt as the Inspiration for Design Motifs in the West: Taylor & Francis e-Library. p. 204. ISBN 9780203011959.
  7. ^ Broman, Elizabeth. "Egyptian revival funerary art in Green-Wood Cemetery." Markers (2001)
  8. ^ Giguere, Joy M. (2014). Characteristically American : memorial architecture, national identity, and the Egyptian revival (First edition ed.). Knoxville: The University of Tennessee Press. ISBN 978-1-62190-077-1. OCLC 893336717. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help)
  9. ^ Grubiak, Margaret M. (2016). "Characteristically American: Memorial Architecture, National Identity, and the Egyptian Revival by Joy M. Giguere". Technology and Culture. 57 (1): 256–257. doi:10.1353/tech.2016.0009. ISSN 1097-3729.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i Elliot, Chris (2013). "Compositions in Egyptian Hierogylphs in Nineteenth Century England". The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology. 99: 171–189 – via JSTOR.
  11. ^ Hoobler, James A. (1976). "Karnak on the Cumberland". The Tennessee Historical Quarterly: 251–262 – via JSTOR.
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