Important Shabti of the Theban Priest Nesi-per-Nub

Culture: Egyptian

Period: 3rd Intermediate period, late 21st dynasty, 970-931 B.C.

Material: Faience

Dimensions: 14.7 cm high

Price: 12 000 Euro

Ref: 1496

Provenance: Found in 1891 in the cache of Bab-el-Gasus (2nd cache at Dei el Bahari). Thence in a French private collection. Auctioned on 16 November 1987 with Delavenne et Lafarge in Paris, lot 132. From there acquired by the collection Chauvin, Paris. Accompanied by a French antiquities passport.

Condition: Except for some minor traces of encrustation intact and especially the inscription excellently preserved.

Description: Large shabti of blue glazed faience, which belonged to the tomb endowment of the priest Nesi-per-Neb (also Nes-per-nubu or Nespernub) that was found in 1891 in the cache at Bab el Gasus (also known as “Priestly Cache” or "2nd Cache). Nesi-per-Neb whose name means “He who belongs to the House of Gold”, had numerous titles. Amongst them namely “Godfather of Amun and Scribe of the Temple of Mut” are mentioned on this shabti. Today, around 80 shabtis (around 30 in private hands) of Nesi-per-Neb, whose coffin is in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, are known. They differ in their inscription and painting. An example with the long, two-column inscription such as on the present one is in the Musée historique de Vevey in Switzerland with the inventory number A 131. Regarding the description: The mummiform figure has the arms crossed over the chest, each hand holding a hoe. It wears a tripartite wig with a filet, as well as horizontal stripes on the calotte and vertical ones on the lobes. Eyes, brows, collar and the seed bag on the back are painted in black, mouth and nose are sculptural. The hieroglyphs mention the name of the owner, two of his titles, as well as the tasks of the tomb servants, which are: “Oh shabti, say: I will water (the bank areas).” The right column mentions rare excerpts of Chapter 83 of the Book of the Dead, which is about the transformation to a phoenix. For a fundamental work about the shabtis of Nes-per-nebu see Niek de Haan and Patrice Renaut “The shabtis of Nesy-per-nub”, First Edition 2021, published on shabticollections.com.