
Francesca Hickin
Head of Department
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Sold for £10,200 inc. premium
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Head of Department

Associate Specialist
Provenance:
Private collection, UK, acquired by the mid 1960s or earlier; and thence by descent to the present owner.
Statues of the deceased were placed in the tomb to serve as a surrogate for the physical body, and as such could receive offerings. Having previously been the preserve of the king and his family, non-royal tombs began to be equipped with such statues, both in wood and stone, during the 4th Dynasty, with the practice becoming widespread in elite burials by the 6th Dynasty.
The facial features of the above lot are reminiscent of the wood figure of Tjeteti in the Metropolitan Museum, New York, acc. no. 26.2.9a, b and a statuette in the Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Harvard University, acc. no. 1996.136.