Ancient Egypt, Third Intermediate Period, 21st to 25th Dynasty, ca. 1070 to 664 BCE. A gorgeous mold-formed faience ushabti covered in a brilliant azure-hued glaze and decorated with applied black paint. The figure stands in mummiform with fused legs and protruding feet, holds the symbolic pick and hoe in hands crossed atop the chest, and has a petite seed bag suspended with two straps across the verso. The minimal visage boasts black-painted eyes and brows, smooth cheeks, and a small nose, all beneath a simple tripartite wig and a black-painted seshet hair band. A column of hieroglyphic symbols is painted onto the front of the legs and, while untranslated, would provide the name of Osiris as well as the name of the deceased. Size: 1.5" W x 4" H (3.8 cm x 10.2 cm)

Shabti (or ushabti) dolls are figures shaped like adult male or female mummies wearing traditional ancient Egyptian headdresses. The ancient Egyptians believed that after they died, their spirits would have to work in the "Field of Reeds" owned by the god of the underworld, Osiris. This meant doing agricultural labor was required by all members of society, from workers to pharaohs. By the Third Intermediate period, this practice had become so necessary and elaborate that some tombs contained one worker for every day of the year and thirty-six overseers, each responsible for ten laborers. The wealthier nobility in Egyptian society were able to have shabtis made of coveted faience, and blue faience was meant to reflect the color of the river Nile both on earth and in the afterlife.

Provenance: private Danvers, Massachusetts, USA collection, acquired by descent; ex-USA collection, acquired before 2000

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#179242

Chip to proper right shoulder and some nicks and abrasions to surface, but otherwise intact and excellent with nice remaining pigments as well as painted detail.