Ancient Egypt, Middle Kingdom, late 11th Dynasty to early 12th Dynasty, ca. 2060 to 1900 BCE. A wooden and plaster model made for a tomb showing two men sealing and stoppering beer jars and a third kneading bread dough. The figures are wood and their components are a hard, white plaster, painted in shades of red. They are mounted on a piece of wood that likely came from an old box or chest recycled by the artist. Size: 8.1" L x 11" W (20.6 cm x 27.9 cm)

During the Sixth Dynasty, it became common to place wooden models of lifelike scenes in Egyptian tombs; by the Middle Kingdom, they were placed in the tomb chamber, around the coffin, although some very rich tombs had a separate chamber just for wooden models. Baking and brewing were frequent subjects of tomb models, symbolizing the range of food offerings that would have been described on the stelae and tomb reliefs that led to the main tomb chamber. These figures were also made to work throughout the afterlife, creating the bread and beer that the deceased would need.

At recent Christie's auctions, similar examples, but less complete than these, hammered at $13,284 (Kensington, 14 April, 2011, Lot 25), $14,306 (Kensington, 14 April, 2011, Lot 15) and $15,328 (Kensington, 14 April, 2011, Lot 20).

Provenance: ex-New York private collection acquired in 1969 from David Crownover

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#119789

All wood has some age cracking and wear to paint; one of the wood figures (the one bent at the waist) has some older repair to its skirt. Model comes in separate pieces but they can be easily placed together as shown in the photos.