The Louvre and the collection of the famous French museum contain a huge number of ancient Egyptian artefacts. Some of these items were acquired in the first half of the 19th century by the English traveler and Egyptologist Henry Salt. Salt was born in 1780 into a family of doctors and in his youth he became interested in portrait painting. He studied with famous English artists, but eventually abandoned art, as he was unable to earn a good reputation in the world of painting.
Salt met Earl George Annesley and, having become his secretary, traveled with him to other countries. In 1803, they went to India, where Salt, using his artistic skills, made sketches of the places he saw. Salt returned to England through Ethiopia and Egypt. Since then, he traveled to these countries several times. He arrived in Ethiopia with a government mission to strengthen trade and diplomatic ties, and was later appointed consul in Egypt. Having settled in Cairo, he was engaged in ensuring the safety of artefacts found by English archaeologists.
Using the opportunity, Salt collected Egyptian antiquities and established contacts with specialists who helped with the acquisition of artefacts. He sold part of the first collection to John Soane, who built his own museum in London. After a large-scale sale, Salt began to assemble a second collection - it was purchased by the French and exhibited in the Louvre. In the last years of his life, the Egyptologist formed a third collection, which after Salt's death was bought by the British Museum.
The Louvre contains more than a thousand items that belonged to Salt. These are papyrus fragments, figurines, dishes, sarcophagi, etc.
Source:
louvre.fr
