Art Deco and King Tut

In a vague way I'd known that the discovery of King Tut's tomb influenced Art Deco design, but I'd never been quite certain exactly how the discovery of the young pharaoh's burial treasure influenced the early twentieth century design movement. When pieces from King Tut's tomb came to San Francisco's de Young museum I knew I'd finally get a chance to see first-hand the origin of the influence.

In 1922 the general public became fascinated with what British archaeologist Dr. Howard Carter discovered in King Tut's tomb. Egyptian themes began to emerge across the design spectrum, influencing clothing, furniture, architecture, and jewelry. A few years after this discovery, Art Deco came into vogue and incorporated the popular Egyptian motifs that were already in circulation.

While looking at the ornate artifacts, I quickly began to recognize the inspiration for the Art Deco designs I'd seen over the years. I never thought of these designs as uniquely Egyptian so much as simply Art Deco. I saw among the tomb's objects the zigzags, wavy parallel lines, and stair step shapes that are familiar parts of the Art Deco vocabulary. The richly ornamented surfaces of a coffinette resembled the gilded surfaces of many of the Art Deco office lobbies through which I've passed. It was fascinating to tour the extensive collection of items from the tomb, something I'd been hoping to see for years. From a design perspective, I'm most happy to finally understand how the contents of King Tut's tomb influenced everything from Grauman's Egyptian Theatre in Los Angeles to Rockefeller Center in New York City.

Photograph by Harry Burton, who photographed the tomb contents in the 1920s.