**First Time At Auction**

Egypt, Late Dynastic Period, probably 26th (Saite) Dynasty, ca. 664 to 525 BCE. A fine faience ushabti, of a pale-green color, with extensive hieroglyphic inscriptions along the torso. Mummiform atop an integral plinth and donning a tripartite wig and false beard, the figure has both hands crossed over its chest and holds the symbolic pick and hoe to tend the fields of Osiris in the afterlife. Ushabti were placed in tombs as grave offerings, created to do manual labor for the deceased in the afterlife. Towards the end of the Pharaonic period, they 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. Workers like this one are from that period of enormous proliferation, and are some of our best surviving insights into ancient Egyptian funerary practices. Many, like this one, are inscribed with pleas to Osiris. Custom wooden display stand included. Size: 6.5" H (16.5 cm); 7" H (17.8 cm) on included custom stand.

Provenance: private Davis collection, Houston, Texas, USA; ex-Mikel Carvin collection, Vienna, Austria and New York, New York, USA, acquired prior to 1970

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#132794

Age-commensurate surface wear, fading to some hieroglyphic inscriptions and facial features, small nicks to base and head, and some minor discoloration, otherwise intact and very good. Light earthen deposits throughout.