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Lot 37*

An Egyptian light blue glazed composition shabti for Heka-em-saf

Antiquities
28 November 2017, 10:30 GMT
London, New Bond Street

£6,000 - £8,000

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An Egyptian light blue glazed composition shabti for Heka-em-saf
Late Period, reign of Amasis, circa 570-526 B.C.
The elongated mummiform figure wearing a finely striated tripartite wig, holding a pick and hoe and carrying a seed bag over the left shoulder, the dorsal column with text reading: 'The Osiris, Heka-em-saf, Overseer of the Royal Ships, see, you shall call at any time', 18cm high

Footnotes

Provenance:
Pyramid complex of Unas at Saqqara.
with Faustus Gallery, Geneva (Antiquité: Une introduction, October 1976).
Roger Liechti (1934-2010) collection, Geneva, acquired from the above in 1976.
with Phoenix Ancient Art, Geneva (Faiences, 2011).
Private collection, North America.

Other shabtis for Heka-em-saf are held in museums including Baltimore, Brooklyn, Budapest, Cairo, the British Museum, Lyons, the Louvre, Oslo, Stockholm and Rome. See also G. Janes, Shabtis, a Private View, Paris, 2002, p. 206-208, no. 104. The light blue glaze of the present lot is extremely rare, as most shabtis for Heka-em-saf are a pale green glaze.

Heka-em-Saf was a senior official attached to the palace who held several prominent administrative positions; his titles included 'Prince', 'Seal Bearer of the King of Lower Egypt', 'Controller of the Palace', 'Overseer of the Storehouse of Refreshments' and 'Overseer of the Double Treasury of Residence'. These titles were found inscribed on the wall of his tomb (discovered near the pyramid of Unas at Saqqara in 1903 by A. Barsanti). His role as 'Overseer of the Royal Ships' is perhaps his most important, as it is the only one that appears on the back of his shabtis.

Additional information

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