Clay ushabti
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Object number
AR3090-B4
| Object: |
Egyptian clay ushabti
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| Material: |
Orange clay with remains of dark slip.
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| Period: |
19th to 20th dynasty of ancient Egypt. C. 1292 BC to 1085 BC, New Kingdom. |
| Description: |
Egyptian funerary statuette with a mummy shaped body. The legs are summarily modelled, arms are crossed in front of the chest, the face is modelled in some detail. The ushabti wears a tripartite wig. The whole statuette was once covered by a dark slip that can still be seen on the back side and on the front part of the wig.
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| Background: |
In Ancient Egypt, a tradition of equipping the graves of the deceased with small funerary figurines gradually became established. The figurines were made of clay, stone, wood or metal, some were covered with faience. They were named with the ancient Egyptian word for "answerer". Transcriptions for this are ushabti, shabti or shawabti. Most commonly used and apparently popular were terracotta ushabtis covered with a fine greenish or blue faience. They were usually 10cm to 20cm tall. Those who could afford it had the ushabtis elaborately engraved or simply painted. The fine engravings of many pieces survived until today. Paint suffered more from the ravages of time, but fortunately some painted figures too have been preserved. The majority of the ushabtis found shows strong erosion and can only be recognized as such by their outlines. Or they were already that basic in their appearence when made in order to cut costs. Ushabtis have been resting with the deceased since the Middle Kingdom of Ancient Egypt around the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC. The earliest known figurines date from the 11th Dynasty. It seems they represented the dead initially, but their function changed until the New Kingdom. At that time the ushabti were to serve as workers in the afterlife, standing in for the deceased, so that he or she was freed from hard physical labour (6th chapter of the Book of the Dead). With this change in purpose it made sense to add more ushabtis to the grave increasing the labour force. This resulted in up to 365 ushabtis per tomb, e.g. for Tut-Anch-Amun - one "answerer" for each day of the solar year. Either the figures were placed directly in the grave or else richly painted or otherwise decorated vessels were used for storage, the best known type being the so-called wooden ushabti boxes. |
| Dimensions: |
16.8cm high, 5.5cm wide.
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| Condition: |
Broken at the legs and rejoined. Some minor chips distributed over the body. Overall good condition. Remnants of the original slip on the back and a small remainder of red grounding on the front right shoulder, part of an agricultural implement painted in black on it.
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| Provenance: |
Acquired by us in 2020 from the German family estate Stollenwerk. Inherited in 2015 from the German private collection of the archaeologist and artist Erich Charlier. He acquired his collection, including this piece, between 1950 and 1980 in Europe. Mr. Charlier was known for his work as an artist and built a reputation in his home country. He had his studio in Hammer, a village in the Eifel region of Germany. The artist is immortalized in numerous church ornaments in the area. For his artistic work Mr. Charlier received the honorary prize of the municipality of Simmerath, as well as the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1994. Fossils and archaeological objects from his collection were or are on display in an exhibition in Hammer, together with typical hand drawings by Mr. Charlier, which he made for many archaeological pieces in his possession. |
| References: |
Cf. H. A. Schlögl und A. Brodbeck, Ägyptische Totenfiguren aus öffentlichen und privaten Sammlungen der Schweiz, p. 144, no. 85. Cf. H. M. Stewart, Egyptian Shabtis, p. 43, no. 42. Dort Verweis auf Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, University College London, UC 40661. Cf. G. Janes, The Shabti Collections 2, p. 15, no. 10. Cf. G. Janes, The Shabti Collections 6, p. 156f, no. 4417. Similar G. Janes, Shabtis - a private view, p. 49f, nos. 23 and 24. |
| Literature: |
A good introduction and overview on Egyptian ushabtis in just one volume is given by Glenn Janes in Shabtis: A Private View - Ancient Egyptian Funerary Statuettes in European Private Collections.
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| Authenticity: |
We unconditionally guarantee the authenticity of every artefact, all items are subject to our lifetime return policy on authenticity.
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