AN EGYPTIAN BLACK SERPENTINE SHABTI FOR THE CHIEF OF SOLDIERS, PA-SER

Stylistically this impressive serpentine shabti for Pa-Ser finds its closest parallels to examples from the late 18th Dynasty, in particular to the reign of Amenhotep III.  Noteworthy is the simplification of the body, with no articulation of the hands, and no flourishes for attributes such as a broad collar, as seen on a number of high status figures, typically in exotic wood, such as that for Maya (see no. 71 in Kozloff, et al., Egypt’s Dazzling Sun, Amenhotep III and His World).  The shape of the face and especially the treatment of the lips were appropriated from images of Amenhotep III, also noted on other private funerary figures, such as that for Tjenura (no. 7 in Freed, et al., Pharaohs of the Sun).