Beelden uit Egyptische graven in het Boulaq Museum in Caïro, Egypte before 1871

This photograph by Hippolyte Délié depicts sculptures from Egyptian tombs displayed at the Boulaq Museum in Cairo. The museum itself was founded in 1858 by the French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette, at a time when European powers exerted considerable cultural and political influence in Egypt. Délié’s image provides insight into the colonial context of early Egyptology. The very act of photographing and cataloging these sculptures reflects European efforts to document and understand Egyptian history through a Western lens, with ancient artifacts being removed from their original sites and placed within a museum context. The formal arrangement of the sculptures on pedestals, as if in a European sculpture gallery, shows the influence of Western museum practices on the presentation of Egyptian artifacts. The photograph serves as a historical document. By consulting archives, museum records, and colonial-era publications, we can better understand the complex social and institutional forces that shaped the collection, interpretation, and display of Egyptian art.