Egyptian shroud in first-of-kind auction in Paris

A rare ancient Egyptian burial cloth more than 3,000 years old is to go under the hammer on Thursday in Paris, an exceptional sale of an artefact usually found only in museum collections.
The small square of vividly painted fabric is among roughly 20 known to exist in the world, the majority of which are on display at museums like the Louvre and the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art.
According to Piasa, the auction house hosting the sale, it is difficult to set a price estimate, given the unique nature of the item.
The 29-by-21 centimetre shroud, which would have been placed on the deceased's sarcophagus, bears the likeness of a man named "Ta-nedjem" or "Gentle Land", who died some 3,400 years ago and who is unknown to researchers.

Its path to the auction block is remarkable, passing through the hands of an American billionaire, his unhappy wife and finally his mistress.
The final step toward auction came when Piasa's director Henri-Pierre Teissedre found the cloth while doing an inventory of the home of respected French writer and publisher Jeanne Loviton, who died in 1996 after leading a life that could have been torn from a novel.

The shroud is made from the same type of cloth used to produce the bandages that wrap mummies and dates from the New Empire, between 1,400-1,300 B.C., a period experts consider a high point of Egyptian civilization.

"Ta-nedjem" is shown in profile, sitting on a black chair with curved back and animal legs. His clothes and ornaments, like the richness of the furniture, show he was a man of status.
In the background are two columns of hieroglyphics reading: "Offering of all things good and pure for the Ka (vitality) of Ta-nedjem of just voice."
This cloth "carries numerous similarities with the one on display at the Louvre, same painter but a different scribe," said art expert Christophe Kunicki.