Page 233 - Features of an Era
P. 233
sent to Paris to be completed at the King Fouad I, porphyry bust, 73 x 81 x 46 cm
expense of the princess. Samiha Hussein
donated this statue to the Parliament to
be settled in the Pharaonic Hall until the
July 23rd, 1952 Revolution.
Two Busts from the Pharaonic Hall:
Farouk’s desire that his statue stands
in the Pharaonic Hall of the Parliament
makes sense because this Hall housed
a collection of busts of monarchs of
Muhammad Ali dynasty. So, the young
king wanted this statue to be next to the
busts of his ancestors. As a consequence
of reviewing some photos published in the
Egyptian press a few days after the death
of the King Fouad, it is clear that such
current exhibition includes two of these
busts; one of them is of the King Fouad,
compared to a bust in a photo published
then in Al-Mussawar magazine, it seems
to be a part of a big structure which is
the pedestal supporting it. It appears that
the pedestal was separated from the bust
later. This is shown through the lower
part of the chest since the edges are not
trimmed which refer to be cut from a
bigger block.
This is proved true because there is a
bronze bust, on exhibition, whose details
are similar to the porphyry one but the
lower part of the chest in the bronze bust
is complete. Consequently, this confirms
that the modification mentioned had
been made on the stone one.
Also, the same thing is observed in a A photograph published in Al-Mussawar
bust of the Khedive Isma’il, made of the magazine on May 9th 1936. Comparing it with
same material. For this, it was more likely the previous photo, the bust was attached to a
to be one of the busts in the Pharaonic pedestal which might have been removed later.
233
expense of the princess. Samiha Hussein
donated this statue to the Parliament to
be settled in the Pharaonic Hall until the
July 23rd, 1952 Revolution.
Two Busts from the Pharaonic Hall:
Farouk’s desire that his statue stands
in the Pharaonic Hall of the Parliament
makes sense because this Hall housed
a collection of busts of monarchs of
Muhammad Ali dynasty. So, the young
king wanted this statue to be next to the
busts of his ancestors. As a consequence
of reviewing some photos published in the
Egyptian press a few days after the death
of the King Fouad, it is clear that such
current exhibition includes two of these
busts; one of them is of the King Fouad,
compared to a bust in a photo published
then in Al-Mussawar magazine, it seems
to be a part of a big structure which is
the pedestal supporting it. It appears that
the pedestal was separated from the bust
later. This is shown through the lower
part of the chest since the edges are not
trimmed which refer to be cut from a
bigger block.
This is proved true because there is a
bronze bust, on exhibition, whose details
are similar to the porphyry one but the
lower part of the chest in the bronze bust
is complete. Consequently, this confirms
that the modification mentioned had
been made on the stone one.
Also, the same thing is observed in a A photograph published in Al-Mussawar
bust of the Khedive Isma’il, made of the magazine on May 9th 1936. Comparing it with
same material. For this, it was more likely the previous photo, the bust was attached to a
to be one of the busts in the Pharaonic pedestal which might have been removed later.
233
