Magnificent wooden Egyptian revival chair dating to the 1920s and expertly made in the likeness of King Tutankhamun’s golden throne that was discovered in the Valley of the Kings archaeological site in 1922 by Howard Carter. Purportedly deriving from the Paramount Pictures prop department, the robust gilt-gesso armchair measures 40.5″ x 22″ x 26″ and is adorned with inlaid stone, polychrome decorations, and boasts an incredible array of detail from top to bottom: the solid chairback depicts the young Pharaoh and his queen in relief surrounded by sundry designs and hieroglyphs; both chair arms are shaped in the form of a large-winged wading bird with an up-raised beak; the front of the seat, with intricately checkered square pattern, bears front-facing lion heads, a motif that continues with the chair’s four pawed feline feet; and the backside offers a meticulous array of carved flowers, insects, and birds, amongst other symbols. The underside of the seat is marked in felt tip, “A-12802, P. P. C. [Paramount Pictures Corporation], GR-1677, AF1569,” and bears an affixed label from the “Paramount Pictures Property Dept.” In very good to fine condition, with scattered wear, chipping, and some rubbing to paint.
This chair very closely resembles the exact type produced by Elias Hatoun of Cairo, Egypt, shortly after the discovery of King Tut's tomb, and exhibited at the Reading Museum in Pennsylvania. Hatoun was a major woodworker and dealer of antiques and reproductions to American collectors and museums well into the 1920s, and many of the finest pieces of Mamluke and Egyptian Revival pieces came through his shop.
