The Use of the Useless: Comments on the "Structural Support" of Sculptures in Ancient Egypt

Tzu-Hsuan Huang

"Structural support," initially an inevitable mechanism of craftsmanship, was a common plastic phenomenon since the early stages of the development of Egyptian sculpture. The various forms of structural support matured before the end of the Old Kingdom, and prevailed throughout ancient Egypt. Structural supports mainly existed in specific places in life-sized and colossal stone-made sculptures for strengthening the structure of the sculpture. They also have standard coloring patterns. I consider two types of structural supports with regard to their function and position. By examining the Egyptian concept of representing transparency from reliefs and paintings, I suggest that Type One structural supports have two features of conceptual nonexistence and pseudo-transparency. Type Two are normally accompanied by inscriptions and decoration, and integrate sculptures into architectural context. Presumably, Egptians did not consciously develop these concepts of the structural supports.

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