Even more EES Archives on tour!
On Tuesday 18 February, the Society’s largest Howard Carter watercolour travelled from the Egypt Centre in Swansea to Bolton Museum in preparation for its unveiling in a new exhibition that opened on Saturday 1 March.
EES Howard Carter watercolour (ART.224) on display in Bolton Museum's latest exhibition (photo: Ian Trumble, Bolton LAMS).
This painting is the largest surviving painting by Carter and measures 1.2 by 1.3 metres in size. It was painted by a then 19 year old Carter in 1894 as part of the documentation of the Egypt Exploration Fund's (now Society's) work on the temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari, Thebes. The beautiful watercolour depicts King Thutmose I (Hatshepsut’s father) alongside his mother Queen Senseneb.
Watercolour reproductions alongside EES-excavated artefacts in Bolton's collection (photo: Ian Trumble, Bolton LAMS).
The exhibition, titled ‘In the Temple of the Female Pharaoh: Howard Carter and Hatshepsut’, also features other watercolours produced by Howard Carter from the collections of the EES along with those from the Griffith Institute and the Victoria and Albert Museum. These paintings are displayed alongside artefacts in Bolton’s collection discovered during the Society’s work at Deir el-Bahari.
Dr Stephanie Boonstra (EES Collections Manager) travelled with the painting to Bolton and said: “We are very pleased that this watercolour from the Society’s collections, the largest Howard Carter painting known, has pride of place in Bolton’s latest Egyptological exhibition. This exhibition, which highlights the life and legacy of the powerful female pharaoh, Hatshepsut, showcases Carter’s paintings alongside Bolton’s excellent collection of artefacts that were excavated by the Society in the late 1800s to early 1900s. The Egypt Exploration Society has had a special relationship with Bolton since the founding of the Society in 1882 and it is very gratifying to see that relationship continue to grow.”
3 metre tall replica statue of Hatshepsut made by University of Greater Manchester students (photo: Ian Trumble, Bolton LAMS).
Ian Trumble (Curator of the exhibition, Bolton Museum) said: “Bolton owes its world-famous Egyptology collection to the work of the Egypt Exploration Society. Today the museum works as closely with the Society as it did 140 years ago. As a museum we are honoured that the Egypt Exploration Society has granted us this loan of such a rare and important painting, and we are delighted to be able to display it throughout 2025 as part of this new exhibition in the Bolton’s Egypt galleries. Howard Carter is one of the most famous names in Egyptology, but few knew he was such an amazing artist before becoming an archaeologist, and even fewer know the connections with Bolton’s own collection. We are excited to be able to bring this story to the people of the north west here in Bolton and to continue the museum’s reputation for excellence in Egyptology.”
'In the Temple of the Female Pharaoh: Howard Carter and Hatshepsut' will be on display at Bolton Museum until the end of 2025.
Read more about the exhibition on the Bolton News website.
