Copper Fish

Sara Ingleby-Mackenzie
UK 2000

A simple wooden chest, crudely decorated, is uncovered. What is inside? The lid is pried open to reveal the legendary Copper Fish floating in a sea of bubbles.

On the 25th of November 1922, the first stone was removed from the walls sealing the entrance to a pharaoh’s tomb in the Valley of the Kings, Egypt. Six years of painstaking archaeology work was rewarded by the discovery of wonderful and curious objects housed in an array of boxes. One can still imagine the thrill that the explorers felt.

The rediscovery of a forgotten or lost box never ceases to inspire curiosity and optimism.