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Details
LOT 0444
Egyptian Faience Shabti with Hieroglyphics
LATE PERIOD, 664-332 B.C.
5 1/4 in. (80 grams, 13.5 cm).
Mummiform shabti wearing a tripartite wig, with arms crossed and holding a pick and hoe, seed bag suspended over the shoulder; horizontal band to the waist and vertical column to the legs, each with an impressed hieroglyphic inscription.
Provenance
Private collection, USA and Switzerland, acquired in the early 1980s; thence by descent.
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The Greek hairstyle is a characteristic feature of Ptolemaic royal portraiture, as is the twisted diadem - a Greek interpretation of the Egyptian headband (the sšd) - which appears on several portrait heads of Ptolemaic boy-kings and princes. The distinctive furrow is intriguing, as it contrasts with the typically blemish-free physiognomy of most Ptolemaic royal sculpture. However, a similar furrow can be seen on the portrait head of a provincial governor from Dendera, dated to the 2nd century B.C. (Bothmer, B.V., Egyptian Sculpture of the Late Period 700 B.C. to A.D. 100, New York, 1960, pp. 144-143, pl. 112, nos. 301-302), which may indicate an artistic trend employed in high-status sculpture at that time. It has been suggested that small royal portrait heads, such as this example, may have served as votives. The lack of an Egyptian-style back pillar on this and similar pieces supports the possibility that they were inserted into statues made of different materials (Ashton, S.-A., Ptolemaic Royal Sculpture from Egypt, BAR International Series 923, Oxford, 2001, p.12).
