ClassificationsAncient Egyptian Art

Shabti

Place CreatedEgypt, Africa

CultureEgyptian

PeriodMiddle Kingdom - early New Kingdom

Date1837-1479 BCE

MediumCalcite (alabaster)

Credit LineGift of the Georges Ricard Foundation

Dimensions5 3/8 x 1 3/4 x 1 5/8 in., 450 g (13.7 x 4.4 x 4.2 cm, 15 7/8 oz.)

Object number2018.010.613

Label TextShabtis first appear at the end of the Middle Kingdom. They were crafted from various materials and deposited in burials or given as votive figurines. The decoration of shabtis at this time was varied. Some shabtis bore offering formulas typically found on stelae, coffins, and other funerary objects. This shows the early development of funerary figurines, possibly depicting the deceased as an Osiris.

This small calcite figure wears a large lappet wig and rectangular beard. The wig, ears, eyes, and nose are carefully modeled. There are faint traces of a mouth. Two hands in low relief protrude from the wrappings of his mummiform body, with one grasping an ankh. The other implement is lost or was never completed. It is possible that an inscription was once painted on the shabti.
Exhibition HistoryLife and the Afterlife: Ancient Egyptian Art from the Senusret Collection, Michael C. Carlos Museum, February 4 - August 6, 2023
Published ReferencesHotel des Ventes, Marseille, Archeologie (25 Avril 1974), lot 93.
Melinda K. Hartwig, ed., Life and The Afterlife: Ancient Egyptian Art from the Senusret Collection (Atlanta: Michael C. Carlos Museum, 2023), catalogue entry 84.

ProvenancePurchased by Georges Ricard (1921-2012) from Hotel des Ventes, Marseille, France, April 25, 1974, lot 93. Ex coll. Musée de l'Égypte et le Monde Antique, Collection Sanousrit, Monaco, 1975-1982. Ex coll. Georges Ricard Foundation, Santa Barbara, California.

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