ClassificationsAncient Egyptian Art

Statuette of Imhotep

Place CreatedEgypt, Africa

CultureEgyptian

PeriodLate Period - Ptolemaic Period

Date722-30 BCE

MediumBronze

Credit LineGift of the Georges Ricard Foundation

Dimensions4 5/16 x 1 1/16 x 1 9/16 in., 165 g (11 x 2.7 x 3.9 cm, 5 13/16 oz.)

Object number2018.010.551

Label TextImhotep is the architect credited with constructing King Djoser’s Step Pyramid complex at Saqqara, the beginning of ancient Egyptian monumental stone architecture. He was a man of many talents: the king’s vizier, primary counselor, chief architect, master sculptor, and high priest of the sun god, Re. The Egyptians revered him later as the god of wisdom and medicine.

Figurines of Imhotep show him sitting with a partially unfurled papyrus on his lap. The papyrus reinforces his intellect. Imhotep wears a tight-fitting cap, a broad collar, and a long-pleated skirt. Statuettes of Imhotep were popular votive gifts in the Memphite region, Sais, and Bubastis.
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 3.

ProvenancePurchased by Georges Ricard (1921-2012) from Hotel des Ventes, Marseille, France, December 11, 1973, lot 92Bis. 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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