Faience Ushabti, c. 700 BCE (Third Intermediate Period). Faience with blue-green glaze. 14 cm height.
Lot 020 · Decorative Arts
Faience Ushabti
Unknown, Egyptian (Third Intermediate Period)
Year
c. 700 BCE (Third Intermediate Period)
Medium
Faience with blue-green glaze
Dimensions
14 cm height
Estimate
NZD 7,500–11,000
A ushabti of exceptional quality, the glaze a deep blue-green of great intensity and uniformity. The figure is modelled in the mummiform pose standard for the type, the arms crossed over the chest, the hands holding hoes — the tools with which the ushabti would perform agricultural labour in the afterlife. The face is modelled with care, the features clearly defined. The inscription on the lower body — Chapter 6 of the Book of the Dead — is incised with precision and remains fully legible. The hieroglyphs name the deceased as "the Osiris, Hor-em-akhet, justified."
Artist
Unknown, Egyptian (Third Intermediate Period)
The ushabti — a funerary figurine placed in the tomb to perform labour on behalf of the deceased in the afterlife — was produced in Egypt from the Middle Kingdom (c. 2055 BCE) through the Ptolemaic period (30 BCE). The finest examples, produced during the New Kingdom and the Third Intermediate Period, are made from faience — a glazed non-clay ceramic material — and are inscribed with Chapter 6 of the Book of the Dead, which activates the figurine's magical function. The present example, with its deep blue-green glaze and finely incised inscription, is a work of considerable quality.