Once again, a long period elapsed before more mummy portraits came to light. In 1887, Daniel Marie Fouquet heard of the discovery of numerous portrait mummies in a cave. He set off to inspect them some days later, but arrived too late, as the finders had used the painted plaques for firewood during the three previous cold desert nights. Fouquet acquired the remaining two of what had originally been fifty portraits. While the exact location of this find is unclear, the likely source is from er-Rubayat. At that location, not long after Fouquet's visit, the Viennese art trader Theodor Graf found several further images, which he tried to sell as profitably as possible. He engaged the famous Egyptologist Georg Ebers to publish his finds. He produced presentation folders to advertise his individual finds throughout Europe. Although little was known about their archaeological find contexts, Graf went as far as to ascribe the portraits to known Ptolemaic pharaohs by analogy with other works of art, mainly coin portraits. None of these associations were particularly well argued or convincing, but they gained him much attention, not least because he gained the support of well-known scholars like Rudolf Virchow. As a result, mummy portraits became the centre of much attention. By the late 19th century, their very specific aesthetic made them sought-after collection pieces, distributed by the global arts trade.
Once again a long period elapsed before more mummy portraits came to light In 1887 Daniel Marie Fouquet heard of the discovery of numerous portrait mummies in a cave He set off to inspect them some days later but arrived too late as the finders had used the painted plaques for firewood during the three previous cold desert nights Fouquet acquired the remaining two of what had originally been fifty portraits While the exact location of this find is unclear the likely source is from er-Rubayat At that location not long after Fouquet's visit the Viennese art trader Theodor Graf found several further images which he tried to sell as profitably as possible He engaged the famous Egyptologist Georg Ebers to publish his finds He produced presentation folders to advertise his individual finds throughout Europe Although little was known about their archaeological find contexts Graf went as far as to ascribe the portraits to known Ptolemaic pharaohs by analogy with other works of art mainly coin portraits None of these associations were particularly well argued or convincing but they gained him much attention not least because he gained the support of well-known scholars like Rudolf Virchow As a result mummy portraits became the centre of much attention By the late 19th century their very specific aesthetic made them sought-after collection pieces distributed by the global arts trade