Egyptian, probably late Dynastic to Ptolemaic Periods, ca. 1290 to 30 BCE. This is a high-relief limestone sculptor’s model of a realistic human arm, including a delicately-carved elbow joint. This piece may have served as a model for a larger sculpture, to teach new sculptors how to replicate a master style, or to produce shabtis (small funerary statues for tombs). Like similar pieces, this has an unfinished, functional style - it ends at the shoulder. These models are difficult to date - some are from the Amarna period, when new forms of statuary came in, but most are from the late Dynastic and Ptolemaic periods. Similar pieces are held in the British Museum, the Australian Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and many other institutions. Size: 9” H x 1-3/4“ W x 1-1/2“ L (23 cm x 4 cm x 4 cm).

Provenance: Ex-Simonian collection, Switzerland, before 1985

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#110512

Broken clean near wrist; otherwise intact for some very small chipping on the back near the shoulder joint.