Egyptian Middle-Kingdom Wood Polychrome Boatman

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DAY 1 | Classical Antiquities & Asian Art

By Artemis Gallery

Dec 5, 2018

Set Reminder 2018-12-05 10:00:00 2018-12-05 10:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : DAY 1 | Classical Antiquities & Asian Art https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/artemis-gallery/day-1-classical-antiquities-asian-art-3698
Day 1 of an important 2-day auction featuring ancient and ethnographic art from around the world. Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Viking, Near Eastern plus Asian Art from China, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, Burma, India, more. Artemis Gallery info@artemisgallery.com

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• Lot Description
  Egypt, Middle Kingdom, ca. 2055 to 1650 BCE. A sacred boatman figure, skillfully carved in the characteristic kneeling position of a rower, with separately carved articulated arms, which most likely were raised to hold oars in its original context. Once carved, the figure was covered in a thin layer of gesso and painted in red, black, cream, and white hues. This example still retains carved and painted facial details and a classic cap-styled coiffure. Archaeologists typically find two ships in almost all tombs that have models from the Middle Kingdom period, and those ships are usually staffed by boatmen like this one - created to be a servants in the afterlife, ready to row the deceased upon the eternal Nile, as actual boatmen would have done in real life. Size: 7.875" H (20 cm); 8.5" H (21.6 cm) on included custom stand.
  
  During the Sixth Dynasty, it became common to place wooden models of lifelike scenes in Egyptian tombs; by the Middle Kingdom, they were placed in the tomb chamber, around the coffin, although some very lavish tombs had a separate chamber just for wooden models. Funerary boat models were created to assist in the deceased's journey through the underworld, and the most well-known models came from Meketre's tomb, more than half of which were funerary boats.
  
  Provenance: private Vero Beach, Florida, USA collection; ex-private old English collection, acquired in England in the 1960s
  
  All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back.
  
  A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids.
  
  We ship worldwide and handle all shipping in-house for your convenience.
  
  #141793

  Condition

  Expected surface wear with pigment loss, fissures, and abraded areas commensurate with age. Arms not original to this boatman. Loss to upper left arm which is not entirely secured to the shoulder. Still a wonderful example, and separately carved right articulated arm fitted to shoulder with wooden dowels still displays movement.
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