Description:
A shabti with a lovely bright blue colour, in the somewhat crude style that is so typical for the Third Intermediate Period, particularly the 21st dynasty (circa 1069-945 B.C.). The shabti comes from the so-called Second Cachette in Deir el-Bahari.
The owner of the shabti, a woman, is depicted mummiform, wearing a tripartite wig, leaving the ears visible. The arms are folded over the chest, the proper left arm over the right one. The shabti is holding agricultural implements in its hands, in this case two hoes, and has a seed basket hanging on its back. All details were added in black: eyes, wig, implements, seed basket. The same applies to the vertical band of text.
This text indicates the name of the person for whom the shabti was made: “The illuminated, the Osiris Nestanebettawy”. Her name means "She who belongs to the Lady of the Two Lands".
For this name see Hermann Ranke, Die ägyptischen Personennamen (3 volumes, Glückstadt - Hamburg, 1935-1976), I, p. 179, no. 16.
For a comparable shabti see Christie’s London, sale 1548 of 2 April 2014, lot 51, which sold for GBP 5,250, at that date the equivalent of € 6,350.
Literature:
Georges Daressy, "Les cercueils des prêtres d'Ammon (deuxième trouvaille de Deir el-Bahari)", Annales du service des antiquités de l'Égypte 8 (1907), p. 3-38; for the various coffins carrying the name Nestanebettawy see especially p. 4 (Liste A, no. 6), p. 5 (Liste A, no. 9), p. 9 (Liste A, no. 77), p. 10 (Liste A, no. 88); for the shabtis see p. 16, there indicated as belonging to mummy 77.
Dating:
Third Intermediate Period, 21st Dynasty, circa 1070-945 B.C.
Size:
Height 10.8.
Provenance:
Thebes, Deir el-Bahri, Cache II. Dutch private collection, acquired from Bonhams London in the early 1990s; before that UK private collection.
Condition:
Intact with some encrustation and wear.
SOLD
Stock number:
E1228