ANCIENT EGYPTIAN SHABTI FIGURE
EGYPT, LATE PERIOD, C. 664 - 332 B.C.
African & Oceanic Art, Natural History and Ancient Art
Auction: 30 July 2025 from 14:00 BST
Description
faience, moulded faience, shown in mummiform pose, wearing the tripartite wig and beard, the obverse impressed with two lines of hieroglyphic text, one vertically and one running horizontally around to meet the raised column at the reverse, raised on a wooden base
Dimensions
15.2cm tall
Provenance
Private collection, United Kingdom, acquired at the below
Warwick Auctions, Coventry, United Kingdom, 24th April 2024, lot 702
Private collection, Warwickshire, formed 20th century
Footnote
Shabtis, known also as “answerer figures”, were placed in a tomb so the owner's spirit would not have to perform manual labour in the afterlife. They were often inscribed with chapter 6 of the Book of the Dead, the shabti text, a spell that compels the shabti to substitute itself if the owner is asked to till the fields, irrigate the land, or transport sand from east to west.