Lot 2
Egypt, Third Intermediate Period, 21st Dynasty, ca. 1070 to 943 BCE. A stunning and rare faience overseer ushabti (shabti) enveloped in turquoise glaze. The overseer figure carries a whip over its left shoulder and wears a seshet headband. With hands exposed, a duplex wig, and an apron, this figure is quite different from the more common mummiform worker ushabtis, whose job was to perform the laborious task of farming Osiris's fields after death in lieu of their deceased owner. A full set of ushabtis had 365 workers, one for each day of the year, and 36 overseers who were responsible for coordinating the workers. These figures give us a fascinating glimpse into Egyptian beliefs in the afterlife - that, if given the correct provisions, the dead could avoid eternal labor. These items are both startlingly practical - agricultural workers must have an overseer - and yet abstract, with the overseer and worker figures all petite relative to the size of real humans and made of faience. Size: 1.7" W x 4.9" H (4.3 cm x 12.4 cm)
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; turquoise faience was meant to reflect the color of the river Nile both on earth and in the afterlife.
This piece has been owned by and exhibited in the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities in Bulaq in Cairo, Egypt, the Drexel Institute Museum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and the Minneapolis Institute of Art (16.251) in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Provenance: Collection of Dr. W. Benson Harer, Los Angeles, California, USA, acquired from Superior Gallery, Los Angeles, California, USA in 1975; ex-Louis Blumka collection, 1958; ex-Minneapolis Institute of Art, accession #25.251; ex-Drexel Museum Collection, Pennsylvania, USA, acquired in 1925 as a gift from Lily Place, Cairo, Egypt; ex-Cairo Suq, Cairo, Egypt, prior to 1925
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#180902
- Condition: Professionally repaired with break line visible and light surface wear as shown. Reglazing to lower half of legs. Otherwise, nice presentation and great remaining pigments.
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