Tutankhamun and the Roaring Twenties
Tutankhamun: Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh, the exhibition showing at the stunning Saatchi Gallery in Chelsea is truly spectacular. It is astonishingly beautiful, thought provoking and, like a good film or book, its reputation and popularity is growing by word of mouth.
The discovery of the boy king’s tomb in 1922 by Howard Carter in an expedition financed by Lord Carnarvon of Highclere Castle stirred up ‘Egyptomania’ in England. The 3,300 year old Egyptian designs influenced the art and architecture of the Roaring Twenties. Our companion tour in the company of an erudite and entertaining Blue Badge Tour Guide tells the story of Tutmania in the Roaring Twenties, shows you where the protagonists in this remarkable discovery lived in London and sets the scene for your visit to the exhibition
Date
27/04/2020
Location
The Saatchi Gallery
About this excursion
£119 per person
We’ll arrive at midday at the National Army Museum to meet our Blue Badge Guide. Lunch is included here before we begin our tour in the Museum and then continue by coach through Kensington & Chelsea to hear the story of Tutankhamun and the Roaring Twenties
We see where Howard Carter was born and where he died. Discover how the fashion for Tutankhamun and Ancient Egypt influenced everything from the first Thomas Cook package tours to the Middle East to the novels of Agatha Christie - it’s an irresistible combination of high adventure, romance, and history.
We’ll have a break before we visit the Saatchi Gallery at 4.00pm to see the exhibition of the largest collection of King Tutankhamun’s treasures ever to travel out of Egypt. This will be the last visit for the world’s most famous archaeological finds before the Grand Egyptian Museum in Cairo is completed. The show is quite wonderful. Of course there is gold and gilt but there are also astonishingly ethereal alabaster that seem
to glow from within and impossibly perfect wooden chests. Are these replicas? visitors ask. No, they are the pristine objects that lay in the dark for 3500 years.
A tiny throne, a game box and a set of boomerangs remind us that this was the Boy King who came to the throne aged nine and died just ten years later. And who knew that Tutankhamun’s delicate linen gloves survived in such remarkable condition. Such humble items from an alien and distant culture are fascinating. The Ancient Egyptians believed that if you spoke his name the King would be immortal. Is this what the Gods had in mind?
We’ll be leaving for home after 6.00pm when most of the commuter traffic will be gone.
An expert says:
“This show is absolutely beautiful. The business of the Saatchi Gallery is art and although some of the broadsheets have commented on the absence of an academic framing, in my humble opinion I think that’s exactly what makes this show sing. There is plenty of information about each object but it’s neither stuffy nor cluttered. It is simply beautiful and thrilling. The 150 objects are displayed as glorious pieces of art from an alie
n culture that flourished more than three thousand years ago. There is gold, of course there is, but it is the humble objects that I am still thinking about three weeks later. ‘Are these real or are they replicas’ we found ourselves asking each other as we gazed in awe at the tiny pristine throne of the boy king – flawless after 3,300 years in the dark. The play things of the pre-teen king, a game, pens in their cases and boomerangs (yes, who knew the Ancient Egyptians had boomerangs?) sit alongside objects of astonishing beauty. There is a perfect linen glove for heaven’s sake that could have been lifted from the shelf at Libertys. As the Guardian critic (who gave it five stars) said, it is not the gold that takes your breath away, it’s the craft. Three weeks later and I’m still thinking about it and I shall go back. I can’t recommend this show highly enough.”
The cost of this event will include luxury coach transport, your ticket to the exhibition, your Blue Badge Guide for the day, lunch and, of course, treats.
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