Francesca Hickin
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Lot 17*
An Egyptian limestone shabti for the high priest of Amun, Mery-Sekhmet
28 November 2017, 10:30 GMT
London, New Bond Street£25,000 - £35,000
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An Egyptian limestone shabti for the high priest of Amun, Mery-Sekhmet
New Kingdom, 19th Dynasty, circa 1292-1185 B.C.
Depicted in daily dress, with incised detail duplex wig and broad collar, the face sensitively carved with traces of red pigment on the lips, with short beard, the hands crossed over the chest and holding a djed pillar and tyet, the long pleated kilt with frontal panel reading: 'Glorifying the Osiris, the first prophet (first god's servant) of Amun, Mer(y)-Sekhmet, Justified', a vertical panel of text on the reverse: 'The Osiris, the first prophet (first god's servant) of Amun, of the Treasury , Mery-Sekhmet', 22cm high
New Kingdom, 19th Dynasty, circa 1292-1185 B.C.
Depicted in daily dress, with incised detail duplex wig and broad collar, the face sensitively carved with traces of red pigment on the lips, with short beard, the hands crossed over the chest and holding a djed pillar and tyet, the long pleated kilt with frontal panel reading: 'Glorifying the Osiris, the first prophet (first god's servant) of Amun, Mer(y)-Sekhmet, Justified', a vertical panel of text on the reverse: 'The Osiris, the first prophet (first god's servant) of Amun, of the Treasury , Mery-Sekhmet', 22cm high
Footnotes
Provenance:
with J.-L. Despras, Paris.
Mr B. collection, France, acquired from the above in July 1981.
London art market.
Private collection, North America.
Shabtis wearing the dress of daily life, the so-called "costume of the living", first appear at the end of the 18th Dynasty. They depict the deceased in fashionable contemporary dress, which for upper class, wealthy Egyptians of the New Kingdom period included heavily pleated garments, shawls, skirts, duplex wigs and sandals. These shabtis often hold divine attributes in their crossed hands, as opposed to the agricultural implements other shabtis are shown with, as is the case with the present lot: here Mery-Sekhmet holds a tyet knot, or the girdle of Isis, and a djed pillar. These attributes were meant to ensure protection for the deceased from the divine in the afterlife. The tyet knot invoked the power of Isis, and was closely connected to the Osiris myth, which was concerned with rebirth and the afterlife. The djed pillar symbolised endurance and stability.
For similar shabtis, see G. Janes, Shabtis: A Private View, Paris, 2002, p. 235.