Egypt, Late Dynastic Period, 26th to 31st Dynasty, ca. 664 to 332 BCE. A beautiful mold-formed faience ushabti colored in reflective layers of green and blue-green glaze. The figure stands in mummiform with fused legs atop an integral rectangular plinth, crosses bulbous hands across the chest while grasping the symbolic pick and hoe, and has a small incised seed bag behind the left shoulder. The narrow head boasts almond-shaped eyes beneath thick brows, a broad nose, full lips above a plaited false beard, and cupped ears, all beneath a tripartite wig. Ten lines of inscribed hieroglyphic text wraps around the legs, and a faded cartouche - perhaps that of Pharaoh Ahmose II - is present along the figure's left side. Though untranslated, the text would mention the name of the deceased as well as provide an invocation from Chapter 6 of the Egyptian Book of the Dead (or Book of Going Forth by Day). Size: 1.625" W x 6.5" H (4.1 cm x 16.5 cm); 7.5" H (19 cm) on included custom stand.

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 - and it was required by all members of society, from workers to pharaohs. The wealthier nobility in Egyptian society were able to have shabtis made of faience; blue faience was meant to reflect the color of the river Nile both on earth and in the afterlife.

Provenance: private East Coast, USA collection; ex-private Arizona, USA collection, acquired in the 1980s

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#146176

Minor abrasions to legs, body, and head, with fading to original glaze pigmentation, and softening to some hieroglyphic symbols, otherwise intact and excellent. Light earthen deposits throughout.