A rare example of a terracotta shabti depicting an overseer wearing a civil kilt, incised whip over his right shoulder; stylised facial features with pinched profile and incised eyes, nostrils and mouth; incised stripe to the left shoulder; accompanied by a custom-made stand.

PROVENANCE:
Acquired 1979-1999.
London collection of the late Mr S.M., thence by descent.

Accompanied by a copy of a previous cataloguing slip.
Accompanied by an original thermoluminescence analysis report no.N122j43, from Oxford Authentication.

LITERATURE:
Cf. Petrie, W.M.F., Gizeh and Rifeh, London, 1907, pl. XXVIIC, for numerous examples of crude terracotta worker and overseer shabtis of the late New Kingdom from Deir Rifeh; Janes, G., The Shabti Collections 6. A Selection from the World Museum Liverpool, Lymm, 2016, pp.516-517, nos. 271 a-c, for examples of crude mud worker shabtis of the early Ptolemaic period found at Abydos holding a stylised implement.

FOOTNOTES:
Many crude clay shabtis are known from provincial sites such as Deir Rifeh and Abydos, with dates ranging from the Late New Kingdom - Ptolemaic Period. This overseer figure would favour a dating closer to the earlier date, when overseer shabtis were a common feature.