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Lot Essay
Carved from a hard black stone, this portrait of two members of the Theban priesthood presents an image of serene affection between husband and wife. Nearly equal in height, the pair stands side by side with the feet together, clasping hands against a solid shared back slab that rises to shoulder height. Their joined hands meet at the center, with Piay’s thumb covering the open hand of his wife. Both figures wear heavy wigs extending just past the shoulders. Piay is dressed in a long, cone-shaped kilt knotted at the waist, while his wife Takharu – whose name means “the Syrian woman” – wears a long V-necked garment reaching her ankles. Vertical incised lines indicate the folds of their clothing.
Four vertical columns of hieroglyphs on the back pillar preserve an offering formula requesting “all good and pure things” from the Theban divine triad for the couple. Piay’s rank as a wab-priest indicates a relatively modest status, while Takharu’s title as a temple singer reflects a comparable standing within the Amun priesthood. A brief inscription between the two figures, opposite a short offering formula addressed to Osiris, suggests that the statue was dedicated not by Piay himself but, unusually, by his father, It-sherit. The prominence of Theban deities in the inscriptions makes a Theban origin for the pair statue highly probable.
The style and pose of the statue draw on Middle Kingdom traditions, while the summary carving and attenuated proportions are characteristic of sculpture from the Second Intermediate Period, particularly the 17th Dynasty. During this era, Theban rulers maintained control in the south despite Hyksos domination of the north. A partially preserved royal pair statue in the British Museum (inv. no. EA 69536), depicting King Sobekhotep seated beside the goddess Mut, demonstrates that a widely separated pose also appears in royal statuary of the period (see P. Polz, Der Beginn des Neuen Reiches: Zur Vorgeschichte einer Zeitenwende, p. 355, pl. 34 a–b). The wigs – especially that worn by Takharu – find close parallels among sculptural works of the 17th Dynasty, as shown by S. Winterhalter (see “Die Plastik der 17. Dynastie,” in A. Brodbeck, ed., Ein ägyptisches Glasperlenspiel: Ägyptologische Beiträge für Erik Hornung aus seinem). S. Connor (op. cit.) has likewise identified this pair statue as a product of this period in his comprehensive study of sculpture spanning the end of the Middle Kingdom and the rise of the 18th Dynasty.
A slightly earlier pair statue in Turin (Museo Egizio, inv. no. S 1219⁄1), depicting another wab-priest named Sahi clasping hands with his wife, recalls the pose seen here (see Connor, op. cit., p. 383, figs. 2.12.1, e–f). In that example, however, the male figure advances his left foot, and a pointed projection rises above the shared back slab to support the man’s head. Although the names Piay and Takharu are not especially rare, they are most frequently attested in 18th Dynasty, leaving open the possibility of a date at the very beginning of the New Kingdom.
The inscriptions read:
At the front, between the two figures: “A royal offering of Osiris, Lord of Abydos, that he might give an invocation offering of bread, beer, cattle, fowl, for the Ka of the Venerated One and Possessor of Love (?). It is his father who perpetuates his name upon [earth?] It-sheri (justified?).”
On the left side: “For your (?) august ka!”
At the back pillar: “A royal offering (of) Amun, Mut, Khonsu, and Ptah Lord of Maat, South of [his] Wall, that they give a voice offering of bread, beer, cattle, fowl, cool water, incense, all good and pure things from which the god(s) [live], for the Ka of the Great Favored one of the Lord of Thebes, the Osiris (of) the wab-priest of Khonsu, Piay, justified, his wife, the Lady of the House, Singer of Amun, Takharu, justified.”
Four vertical columns of hieroglyphs on the back pillar preserve an offering formula requesting “all good and pure things” from the Theban divine triad for the couple. Piay’s rank as a wab-priest indicates a relatively modest status, while Takharu’s title as a temple singer reflects a comparable standing within the Amun priesthood. A brief inscription between the two figures, opposite a short offering formula addressed to Osiris, suggests that the statue was dedicated not by Piay himself but, unusually, by his father, It-sherit. The prominence of Theban deities in the inscriptions makes a Theban origin for the pair statue highly probable.
The style and pose of the statue draw on Middle Kingdom traditions, while the summary carving and attenuated proportions are characteristic of sculpture from the Second Intermediate Period, particularly the 17th Dynasty. During this era, Theban rulers maintained control in the south despite Hyksos domination of the north. A partially preserved royal pair statue in the British Museum (inv. no. EA 69536), depicting King Sobekhotep seated beside the goddess Mut, demonstrates that a widely separated pose also appears in royal statuary of the period (see P. Polz, Der Beginn des Neuen Reiches: Zur Vorgeschichte einer Zeitenwende, p. 355, pl. 34 a–b). The wigs – especially that worn by Takharu – find close parallels among sculptural works of the 17th Dynasty, as shown by S. Winterhalter (see “Die Plastik der 17. Dynastie,” in A. Brodbeck, ed., Ein ägyptisches Glasperlenspiel: Ägyptologische Beiträge für Erik Hornung aus seinem). S. Connor (op. cit.) has likewise identified this pair statue as a product of this period in his comprehensive study of sculpture spanning the end of the Middle Kingdom and the rise of the 18th Dynasty.
A slightly earlier pair statue in Turin (Museo Egizio, inv. no. S 1219⁄1), depicting another wab-priest named Sahi clasping hands with his wife, recalls the pose seen here (see Connor, op. cit., p. 383, figs. 2.12.1, e–f). In that example, however, the male figure advances his left foot, and a pointed projection rises above the shared back slab to support the man’s head. Although the names Piay and Takharu are not especially rare, they are most frequently attested in 18th Dynasty, leaving open the possibility of a date at the very beginning of the New Kingdom.
The inscriptions read:
At the front, between the two figures: “A royal offering of Osiris, Lord of Abydos, that he might give an invocation offering of bread, beer, cattle, fowl, for the Ka of the Venerated One and Possessor of Love (?). It is his father who perpetuates his name upon [earth?] It-sheri (justified?).”
On the left side: “For your (?) august ka!”
At the back pillar: “A royal offering (of) Amun, Mut, Khonsu, and Ptah Lord of Maat, South of [his] Wall, that they give a voice offering of bread, beer, cattle, fowl, cool water, incense, all good and pure things from which the god(s) [live], for the Ka of the Great Favored one of the Lord of Thebes, the Osiris (of) the wab-priest of Khonsu, Piay, justified, his wife, the Lady of the House, Singer of Amun, Takharu, justified.”