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Egypt, New Kingdom, dynasties 18 thru 20, ca. 1500 to 1200 BCE. Tall and finely carved wood Ptah-Sokar Osiris. This figure depicts the Egyptian god of resurrection, standing wearing a tightly fitting mummiform garment and triparte wig. A separately made removable feather and horn headdress atop. Ample remains of white gesso and eyes and brows highlighted in black. Rare to find an example from this early time period. Size: 6.5" W x 23.25" H (16.5 cm x 59.1 cm); 25" H (63.5 cm) on included custom stand.

Ptah Sokar Osiris is one of the most complicated concepts of Egyptian mythology. The figures shown here represents the god's three parts: Ptah, the creator god of Memphis; Sokar, the patron of the Memphite necropolis, and Osiris, the god of the afterlife and lord of the underworld. All three are depicted in mummy forms; Osiris and Ptah as men, and Sokar as a falcon. Osiris is no longer present in this example, but would have been kept as a mummy - made of vegetable matter - inside the original coffin-like box. Together, they tell a story of birth, death, and resurrection. These figures became popular after ca. 1000 BCE and are associated with elite burials. In each, the god stands atop a box with a simple lid; a linen-wrapped mummy made of vegetable matter would be placed into the hollow box to represent rebirth in the afterlife (the earliest examples instead had funerary papyri placed inside of them). This "mummy" was a substitute image of the deceased, and when it sprouted, it would symbolize rebirth. The entire artifact, as this one once was, would be painted with rich colors, and decorated with hieroglyphics. Items like these were almost certainly made by priests as part of the funerary ritual. This figure represents the complex religious iconography of ancient Egypt and also serves as a good example that this religion and culture was not unchanging over the vast time period that it lasted; instead, new practices and gods arose over time.

Provenance: private New York, New York, USA collection; ex-Harry Wallace collection, New York, New York, USA, acquired between 1970 and 1980

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#182240

Missing original wooden platform, wear to pigment as shown, large vertical age crack up midsection and small one at feet.