3,000-year-old royal couple go on show in city for first time
A 3,000-YEAR-OLD Egyptian statue given to travel pioneer Thomas Cook’s son is to go on display in Leicester for the first time.
The black granite statue will go on show at Leicester Museum and Art Gallery, in New Walk, this weekend and will serve as a rare treat for those interested in ancient history.
The statue is of a seated Egyptian couple – Sethmose and Isinofret – and it was presented to John Mason Cook by the Egyptian Administration in the 1890s.
It was part of the Thomas Cook Travel Company archive and became available for purchase when Thomas Cook Group went into administration in 2019.
It was snapped up by Leicester City Council’s museum service.
The statue is from the New Kingdom period of Ancient Egypt, about 3,000 years ago. The New Kingdom period was the golden age of the civilization of Ancient Egypt.
The statue is made from black granite and only royal Egyptians were allowed to use this type of stone, so the statue could only have been made with royal permission.
Statues such as this usually sat in public spaces, such as temples, and were meant to be viewed by people walking around them.
This exhibition offers a rare chance to view the statue as it would have originally been displayed.
The statue will be the highlight of the Gift of the Nile exhibition at the museum, which runs until February 27.
Other attractions at the museum include a 10-minute-long soundscape inspired by the original score to the 1922 film Nosferatu at the museum’s German Expressionist art collection.
Nosferatu Redux, by Les Hayden, runs until December 31.
From December 4, the creative talents of artists from around the East Midlands will be celebrated at Leicester’s Open 32 exhibition at the museum.
Selected by a panel of judges, the best paintings, sculptures, textiles, prints and photographs by novice artists and seasoned professionals will be on show until January 21.