Beschreibung:

EGYPTIAN SHABTI GROUP Late Period, 664-332 BC A mixed group of glazed composition shabtis comprising: two large cream-coloured with tripartite wigs and black detailing to the hair; face, seed bag, agricultural tools and hieroglyphic text to the lower body; one small red with curved base; one small green with false beard. 86 grams, 5-10.5cm (2 - 4"). Fair condition, feet chipped. [4] Provenance Property of a Swedish collector; formerly in the Malte Nilsson collection; acquired 1950s-1960s; thence by descent. Literature See Shaw I. and Nicholson, P. ‘The British Museum Dictionary of Ancient Egypt.’ 1995, p.266. Footnotes The purpose of the shabtis, or ushabtis, was to spare their owner from menial work in the afterlife, so the shabtis provided food for the deceased. These figurines frequently carried agricultural implements and a seed-bag, so that that they might farm for the deceased person. Many shabtis are decorated with inscriptions from Chapter 6 of The Book of the Dead. The use of shabtis as slaves brought about their proliferation, sometimes with hundreds of shabtis organised into teams of ten, supervised by overseer shabtis, and packed tightly into special boxes.