ClassificationsAncient Egyptian Art

Shabti of the Vizier Paser

Possible OriginThebes, Egypt, Africa

CultureEgyptian

PeriodNew Kingdom, Dynasty 19

Date1292-1191 BCE

MediumFaience

Credit LineGift of the Georges Ricard Foundation

Dimensions6 x 1 15/16 x 1 5/16 in., 168 g (15.2 x 4.9 x 3.3 cm, 5 15/16 oz.)

Object number2018.010.346

Label TextThis bright blue faience mummiform shabti wears a striped lappet wig behind his pierced ears marked in black. Around his neck is a large, broad collar with a lily garland below. Paser’s crossed arms protrude from the wrappings, a distinctive feature of Dynasty 19 shabtis. His wrist bracelets are painted. On the back is a yoke with two water pots and a small seed bag strung over one shoulder.

The shabti inscription, picked out in black, gives Paser’s name and titles as the “Overseer of the city of Thebes” and “Southern vizier,” the latter being one of the highest titles in ancient Egypt. He was appointed vizier by Sety I and remained in that role until at least the twenty-first year of Ramesses II. Several of his shabtis were found at the Serapeum in Saqqara, donated to the sacred Apis bulls. This shabti likely came from Paser’s tomb at Sheikh Abd el-Qurna in western Thebes (TT106).
Exhibition HistoryMichael C. Carlos Museum, Veneralia 2019 Senuseret Collection Preview, May 18, 2019
Life and the Afterlife: Ancient Egyptian Art from the Senusret Collection, Michael C. Carlos Museum, February 4 - August 6, 2023
MCCM Permanent Collection Galleries, March 11, 2024 - Present
Published ReferencesHotel des Ventes, Avignon, Meubles Objets d'Art (22 Mai 1977), lot 43.
Melinda K. Hartwig, ed., Life and The Afterlife: Ancient Egyptian Art from the Senusret Collection (Atlanta: Michael C. Carlos Museum, 2023), catalogue entry 86.

ProvenancePurchased by S.A.M. Sanousrit from Hotel des Ventes, Avignon, France, May 22, 1977, lot 43. Ex coll. Musée de l'Égypte et le Monde Antique, Collection Sanousrit, Monaco, 1977-1982. Ex coll. Georges Ricard Foundation, Santa Barbara, California.

Status

On view

Collections