Egypt, Late Dynastic to Ptolemaic periods, ca. 664 to 30 BCE. A beautiful, hand-carved, painted wood statuette depicting Ptah-Sokar-Osiris in his human-faced form. The god is made of three parts: Ptah, the creator god of Memphis; Sokar, the patron of the Memphite necropolis; and Osiris, the god of the afterlife and lord of the underworld. Together, they tell a story of birth, death, and resurrection. These figures became popular after ca. 1000 BCE and are associated with elite burials. The god figure has remnants of a wooden toggle under its feet with which at one time it would have been attached atop a box that would contain a linen-wrapped mummy made of corn. This corn "mummy" was a substitute image of the deceased. The entire artifact was once painted with rich colors, and decorated with hieroglyphics; you can still see the eyes and some of the red around its face. Custom wooden display stand included. Size: 13.5" H (34.3 cm); 14" H (35.6 cm) on included custom stand.
Provenance: private Houston, Texas, USA collection; ex-Bonhams, London, Knightsbridge Antiquities Auction (May 8, 2013, lot 349); ex-private Dutch collection of Mr. V., acquired prior to 1980
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#132832
Condition
Repair to portion of feet with light adhesive residue along break line. Base has large fissure down the middle, but not damaging to figure. Surface wear commensurate with age, fading to pigmentation and some carved features, otherwise very good. Nice earthen deposits and remains of pigmentation throughout.