A little while ago I began researching into the use of figures in commercial environments as a form of the reflected self. As I was thinking through the project, I decided that I needed to somehow track back more than one hundred years and begin to look at the possible permutations that these forms had developed through and possibly from. I decided to visit the British Museum which I knew had some examples of mummies in their vast collection and interestingly I came across not only the usual pieces as above, but also these very early examples of 'masks' taken from the dead which were subsequently painted. Of course I have no proof that figures used in contemporary commercial environments have any link to these early forms, however using a surface approach there do seem to be some strong links that perhaps need further exploration.
