Model Ox

Place CreatedEgypt, Africa

CultureEgyptian

PeriodLate Old Kingdom-Middle Kingdom, reign of Senwosret III

Date2300-1819 BCE

MediumWood, paint

Credit LineGift of the Georges Ricard Foundation

Dimensions4 5/16 x 1 11/16 x 6 1/8 in., 93 g (11 x 4.3 x 15.5 cm, 3 1/4 oz.)

Object number2018.010.233

Label TextButchery scenes are frequently found in burials from the late Old Kingdom to the Middle Kingdom. In the Middle Kingdom, they are combined with brewing and baking scenes.

The model ox was crafted from several pieces of wood secured with wooden dowels. It was painted in a piebald pattern with black patches on a white ground. Originally, the ox lay or was trussed on the floor of a butchery scene model. Often a human figure crouched or stood over the ox, preparing to slaughter it.
Exhibition HistoryLife and the Afterlife: Ancient Egyptian Art from the Senusret Collection, Michael C. Carlos Museum, February 4 - August 6, 2023
Published ReferencesMelinda K. Hartwig, ed., Life and The Afterlife: Ancient Egyptian Art from the Senusret Collection (Atlanta: Michael C. Carlos Museum, 2023), catalogue entry 78.

ProvenanceEx coll. Georges Ricard Foundation, Santa Barbara, California, possibly purchased from Alain Renner, Issoudun, France.

Status

Not on view

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