ANCIENT EGYPTIAN FAIENCE USHABTI
Ptolemaic Period, Ca. 332 BC.
An ancient Egyptian mummiform faience figure wearing a plain tripartite wig and a divine beard. The arms are crossed at the waist, and the hands hold very faintly modelled implements, assumed to be a pick and hoe. The fairly broad upper torso tapers don to narrow ankes. These figures were an important object in the tombs of the deceased and by the time of the Third Intermediate Period, they would come alive on the command of the dead and were called upon with magic from the Book of the Dead.
Size: L:80.2mm / W:26.9mm ; 22.35g
Provenance: Private London collection; ex. B. Kickx and J. Peeters collections, pre 1978, Belgium.
Estimate: GBP 150 - 300