Exceptional New Kingdom Egyptian Ushabti // 1292 - 1077 BC

Ancient Egypt. New Kingdom, 19th to 20th Dynasty, c. 1292 - 1077 BC. Excellent terracotta ushabti, depicted mummiform, wearing tripartite wig with curled locks, arms folded across chest, hands holding pick and hoe, basket at center of back. The paint is well-preserved with red-brown skin tone, yellow horizontal stripes down the length of the body and black wig, cosmetic details and vertical column of text down the front. H: 6 3/8”. Intact, and extremely well preserved. Stand not included. Ex Nomis Antiquities; ex Simonian family collection, Switzerland, formed in the 1960’s. ** This an extremely rare translated Egyptian Polychrome Ushabti (burial tomb figure) for Wah-Smen, the hieroglyphic inscription translating to ’Illuminate, the Osiris, Wah-Smen, [the one who] lays down the record.' An attractive example of a mold-formed pottery ushabti covered in white pigment and accentuated with areas of red and black. The figure stands in mummiform with fused legs and three yellow 'bandages,' holds a black-painted pick and hoe in arms crossed atop the chest, and has a seed bag painted on the verso. The peaceful visage exhibits almond-shaped eyes with elongated corners, a slender nose, full lips, and a tapered chin, all beneath a black tripartite wig with lengthy lappets and a white fillet wrapped around the middle. For a stylistically similar example for Tamakit, wife of Khonsu, please see The Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession number 86.1.26. Another stylistically similar example, of a smaller size, hammered for $7,500 at Christie's, New York "Antiquities" auction (sale 3403, December 11, 2014, lot 56). Provenance: private New York, New York, USA collection; ex-Julian Bird collection, London, UK, acquired between 1970 and 2012. Minor nicks and abrasions to legs, body, and head, with chipping and fading to areas of original pigmentation and hieroglyphic inscription, softening to some finer details, minor pitting, and light encrustations, otherwise intact and very good. Light earthen deposits and nice traces of original pigment throughout.weight:6.2 oz