Museum of Fine Arts, Boston: The Museum Year 2012
The Acquisitions
Art of the Ancient World: July 2011–June 2012
Pair of clappers
2040–1070 B.C.
Length: 21.5 cm (8 7/16 in.)
Wood
Classification: Musical instruments
Culture: Egyptian
Country of Origin, for Customs: Egypt
Period: Middle or New Kingdom
Accession number: 2012.73.1-2
Description: These wooden clappers take the form of human hands wearing stacked bracelets.
Provenance/Ownership History: Between about 1905 and 1929, acquired in Egypt by Édouard Louis Joseph, Baron Empain (b. 1852 – d. 1929), Heliopolis; by inheritance within the Empain family, Heliopolis and Paris, to his grandson, Édouard Jean, Baron Empain (b. 1937), Paris; April 14, 2011: Baron Empain collection sale, Christie’s (sale no. 6060) London, lot 34, to Royal-Athena Galleries, New York; 2012: sold by Royal-Athena to the MFA. (Accession Date: March 28, 2010)
Miguel and Barbara de Bragança Fund