The Triumph and Trade of Egyptian Objects in Rome

From gleaming hardstone statues to bright frescoes, the unexpected and often spectacular Egyptian objects discovered in Roman Italy have long presented an interpretive challenge. How they shaped and were shaped by religion, politics, and identity formation has now been well researched. But one crucial function of these objects remains to be explored: their role as precious goods in a collector’s economy. The Romans imported and recreated Egyptian goods in the most opulent materials available – gold, gems, expensive wood, ivory, luxurious textiles – and displayed them like true treasures. This is due in part to the way Romans encountered these items, as argued in this book: first as dazzling spolia from the war against Cleopatra, then as costly wares exchanged over the expanding Roman trade routes. In this respect, Romans treated Egyptian art surprisingly similarly to Greek art. By examining the concrete mechanisms through which Egyptian objects were acquired and displayed in Rome, this book offers a new understanding of this impressive material at the crossroads of Hellenistic, Roman, and Egyptian culture.

"The triumph and trade of Egyptian objects in Rome is a beautifully produced volume with copious color images as well as helpful maps and graphics. […] Pearson’s book adds a great deal to our understanding of Egyptian art in Rome. It brings much needed attention to the high quality of Egyptian objects in Roman collections and the value placed upon those objects."
Prudence Jones in: BMCR 2022.01.21

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"For some, I suspect, what will be most refreshing here is the refusal to be sidetracked by questions about the applicability of post-Enlightenment frameworks of ‘art’ to classical antiquity (a major debate over the last decade).6 For others, what will likely appeal is the engaging writing style and short, reader-friendly endnotes. As we have come to expect from De Gruyter’s ICON series, the integrated colour images and design also do justice to the author’s claims about ‘outstanding craftsmanship and beauty’ (5)."
Michael Squire in: Greece & Rome, 2022/1

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"Even when studying a canonical medium like wall painting, Pearson’s interest lies in the edges, in border decoration and upper zones that are often dismissed as fantastical. By taking this understudied corpus as the heart of her study, Pearson advances our interpretation of the kinds of everyday luxury objects that populated the domestic sphere."
Lindsey Mazurek in: caa.reviews on March 18, 2022 (http://dx.doi.org/10.3202/caa.reviews.2022.27)

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"L’enquête fouillée qu’elle nous livre vient ajouter son lot d’éléments matériels à la reconsidération en cours, dans l’historiographie contemporaine, du rôle joué par l’Égypte dans la définition de la romanité, qui s’est longtemps appuyée sur les seuls facteurs politiques et religieux, un travers engendré par la place laissée trop longtemps exclusivement aux textes."
Laurent Bricault in: Göttinger Forum für Altertumswissenschaft, 2022/25 (https://doi.org/10.14628/gfa.2022.1.91458)

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"With this study, Pearson not only greatly contributes to the growing interest in cultural exchange across the ancient Mediterranean, but also furthers our understanding of how the Romans engaged with art objects in general."
Katherine A. P. Iselin in: Rhea Classical Review, July 27, 2023 (https://rheaclassicalreviews.com/2023/07/27/iselin-on-pearson)