Miner Kilbourne Kellogg, born Manlius - Hieroglyphics - unknown - T-Shirt

This pencil sheet sets out a run of Egyptian hieroglyphic cartouches and numbered studies, with a radiating sun disk and a royal profile head drawn in strong contour.

Visual Elements & Composition

The sheet is built on parchment tones, with sepia ink lines and warm grey shading doing nearly all the work. Oval cartouches, each packed with rows of small signs, run across the top and down the right side, and several are marked with letters and numbers: 1, 2, 3, 4, A, B, C, and D. The layout is orderly and grid-like, so each sign can be compared with its neighbours. At the centre, a framed panel holds an enthroned figure beneath a disk whose rays fan downward toward a plain block. At left, a large profile head with a close-fitting head covering dominates the page.

Meaning & Symbolism

The sheet records the signs and scenes of Egyptian monuments as they were understood in the early nineteenth century, when travellers and draughtsmen copied inscriptions to bring home for study. Cartouches, the oval frames that enclose royal names, are the central subject, and the radiating disk and enthroned figure belong to the iconography of sun worship and royal authority. Miner Kilbourne Kellogg, born in Manlius, New York, is the artist named for this sheet. The careful copying of the profile head placed the art of the monuments before a European audience, and the systematic layout reflects scholarly copy work rather than display.

On the Unisex Heavy Cotton Tee

A tee carries this design across the chest, so the numbered panels and cartouches read as a full sheet of study that you can take in at a glance. The central disk and enthroned figure sit where the eye lands first, with the profile head and signs spreading outward around them. The printed image shows the fine line work of the original copy, which suits a shirt meant to be looked at up close.