Large Faience Shabti

Culture: Egyptian

Period: Late period, 26th dynasty, 664-525 B.C.

Material: Faience

Dimensions: 19.5 cm high

Price: Sold

Ref: 1335

Provenance: German private collection Hans Hildebrand Kuntze, Heilbronn, Germany, until 1972. Thence acquired by Erwin Heuchert, Gernsheim, Germany. Last in a Berlin private collection. Accompanied by an invoice of 1972.

Condition: The shabti lied in fire in ancient times and shows corresponding flaking as well as fire patiina. The turquoise glaze is in some places still preserved. Anyway, the overall high-quality impression is hardly affected. Otherwise only some minor wear and intact.

Description: Exceptionally large faience shabti with finely engraved hieroglyphs. The mummiform body with crossed arms, the figure holds in its left hand a hoe, in the right one the hand plow. Behind the left shoulder is a finely engraved seed bag. The figure stands on a base plate and leans on a back pillar. The details of the face are finely worked out, the ears looking out from the tripartite wig, the false beard of the deity is finely braided. The figure is inscribed all over, even on the sides of the back pillar. The text reads the spell 6 of the Egyptian Book of the Dead (“the shabti should represent the deceased during his work”). Mounted.