Egypt, Late Dynastic to Ptolemaic periods, ca. 664 to 30 BCE. A beautiful and well-made faience ushabti, inscribed with a personal prayer of protection. The figure stands in mummiform with both hands crossed over its chest, each holding one of two symbolic agricultural tools used to work the fields of Osiris in the afterlife. A sensual visage is comprised of almond-shaped eyes, a bulbous nose, thin lips drawn into a smile, a false beard, and cupped ears, all framed with a tripartite wig. The artist who created this piece used copper to imbue the surface with a gorgeous sky-blue faience glaze. Dense hieroglyphs surround its lower body to form a prayer for the afterlife. Custom museum-quality stand included. Size: 1.75" W x 6.125" H (4.4 cm x 15.6 cm); 6.625" H (16.8 cm) on included custom stand.
Ushabti dolls are figures shaped like adult male or female mummies wearing traditional ancient Egyptian headdresses. The ancient Egyptians believed that after they died, their spirits would have to work in the "Field of Reeds" owned by the god of the underworld, Osiris. This meant doing agricultural labor - and it was required by all members of society, from workers to pharaohs. The wealthier nobility in Egyptian society were able to have shabtis made of faience; blue faience was meant to reflect the color of the river Nile both on earth and in the afterlife.
Provenance: private Houston, Texas, USA collection; ex-private Dubai, United Arab Emirates collection
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#132799
Condition
Age-commensurate surface wear and abrasions as expected, small chips to integral plinth, body, head, and verso, fading to hieroglyphic text and to glaze coloration, otherwise intact and very good. Nice earthen deposits throughout.