AN EGYPTIAN WOOD SHABTI OF THE PHARAOH SETY I

NEW KINGDOM, DYNASTY XIX, REIGN OF SETY I, 1306-1290 B.C.

Details

AN EGYPTIAN WOOD SHABTI OF THE PHARAOH SETY I
NEW KINGDOM, DYNASTY XIX, REIGN OF SETY I, 1306-1290 B.C.
Depicted with idealized features, wearing an undecorated tripartite wig, the arms crossed, holding a hoe in each hand, inscribed with five rows of hieroglyphs below with a version of Spell VI from the Book of the Dead, invoking this shabti to serve as a surrogate for the Pharaoh if he was called upon to labor in the hereafter, preserving traces of the bitumen in which it was covered before being originally wrapped in linen
8 3/16 in. (20.8 cm.) high

Provenance

Anonymous sale; Christie's, New York, 15 December 1994, lot 58.

Exhibited

The Dallas Museum of Art, 1992-1993.

Lot Essay

The tomb of Sety I was excavated by Giovanni Battista Belzoni in the early 19th century. Many shabtis from the tomb are now in museum collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and The British Museum. For similar examples see pp. 79-81, pls. 12-13 in Aubert and Aubert, Statuettes Égyptiennes: Chouabtis, Ouchebtis.

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