Basalt Fragment of a Naophorus

Culture: Egyptian

Period: Early 26th Dynasty, 664-600 B.C.

Material: Basalt

Dimensions: 15.1 cm x 11.6 cm

Price: Sold

Ref: 1364

Provenance: French private collection, acquired prior to 1973. Thence Christie's London on 1 October 2015, lot 154. Last with gallery Chenel in Paris. With a copy of the French antiquities passport.

Condition: Fragment of beautiful quality.

Description: Massive fragment of a kneeling figure (naophorus) on a high base, holding with both arms a shrine (naos) before him. The naophorus with carefully formed hands and feet, the legs with accentuated muscles. A statuette of Osiris with an atef crown is standing inside the naos. The forehead is adorned with a uraeus snake, the royal cobra, the face is framed by a "false" beard of the gods. The arms crossed in front of the chest, in the left hand Osiris holds the crook, in the right the flail, both symbols of the absolute rule of the pharaohs.