AN EGYPTIAN TURQUOISE FAIENCE SHABTI

Property of A New York Private Collector

Details

AN EGYPTIAN TURQUOISE FAIENCE SHABTI
Dynasty XXVI, 664-525 B.C.

The mummiform figure wearing a tripartite wig and a braided beard curled at the tip, with fine portrait-like features, holding the pick, hoe, and seed-sack, with ten lines of heiroplyphic text in front and a single line on the foot inscribed for "the admiral Tchaenhabu, Overseer of the Royal Fleet" together with the complete version of Chapter VI of the Book of the Dead
7 1/8in. (18.1cm.) high

Provenance

The Breitbart Collection
Sotheby's New York, 20 June 1990, lot 22

Further details

Property of
A NEW YORK PRIVATE COLLECTOR

Lot Essay

The intact tomb of Tchaenhabu was discovered by Bersani at Saqqara in 1900. The tomb contained the mummy, funerary furniture and 401 shabtis, which were dispersed shortly after their discovery. Tchaenhabu served as admiral of the Royal Fleet, probably during the reign Amasis, 570-526 B.C. For other examples, see Aubert, Statuettes Égyptiennes: Chouabtis, Ouchebtis, p. 227, no. 139.