Egyptian Blue Glazed Faience Overseer Shabti

Crafted from banded calcite or alabaster, the vessel is characterised by a barrel-shaped profile, broad shoulders, a short, flared neck, a rounded base, and two lateral loop handles near the shoulders, with a localised row of incised hieroglyphs around the upper shoulder, naming a priest of Amun, Nespakhashuty, and a partially preserved filiation that may be restored as Djed[djehuty-]iu-[ef-]ankh. 420 grams, 37 cm



Formerly in a private collection, Beirut, Lebanon, 1990s. Swiss private collection, acquired from Mr H., Geneva, 2010. Accompanied by a copy of an Art Loss Register certificate, no.S00059830 This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13221-249178.

Nespakhashuty and Djed-djehuty-iu-ef-ankh are names associated with a powerful family dynasty from the late New Kingdom to the end of the Third Intermediate Period. The vessel’s style supports a Third Intermediate Period dating, as it compares with a similarly large example inscribed with the cartouches of the 22nd Dynasty pharaoh Osorkon I (Montet, P., Les constructions et le tombeau d’Osorkon II à Tanis, Paris, 1947, p. 82, pl. XLVI). In the Phoenician necropolises of Andalusia, the deceased's ashes were enclosed in luxurious alabaster urns of Egyptian manufacture. At Almuñécar, for example, some urns in the Phoenician necropolis preserved inscriptions and emblems of various Egyptian pharaohs, who ruled the Nile region between the 16th and 8th centuries B.C. Alabaster vessels of this type, originally containing fine wines, have been discovered, albeit in smaller numbers, in the royal palaces of Assur and Samaria in the East, as part of war booty or gifts exchanged between royal houses.

Complete funerary cone with a long tapering form, the circular flat end impressed with four rows of hieroglyphic text, reading: 'Honoured before Osiris, fourth god’s servant (of) Amun, Montuemhat, true of voice, his wife, his beloved, king’s acquaintance, lady of the house, Shepenmut, true of voice'. 1.41 kg total, 27 cm wide including stand



Acquired from Abdoul Rassoul on the West Bank at Luxor, 1974-1980 when a guest lecturer. From the private collection of Peter Clayton, FCILIP, Dip, Arch, FSA, FRNS, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, UK; formed since the late 1950s.

Montuemhat, Mayor of Thebes and Governor of Upper Egypt, was possibly the most powerful official of his era in southern Egypt. He built one of the largest and most lavishly decorated nonroyal tombs known (TT34), which still dominates the Asasif landscape today. Shepenmut was Montuemhat's second wife.

Biconvex in profile with broad cutting edge; marked in ink 'W Thebes 1912' and old paper label 'A.D Passmore (ex Sotheby) P.A. Clayton Colls'. 325 grams, 95 mm



Found in the desert west of Thebes, Egypt, 1912. Ex A.D. Passmore collection. Acquired from Sotheby's, 16 June 1959 (part), £4.10. From the private collection of Peter Clayton, FCILIP, Dip, Arch, FSA, FRNS, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, UK; formed since the late 1950s. Accompanied by a copy of an old handwritten identification card written by Peter Clayton.