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- Egyptian wooden figure of a standing male, Middle Kingdom, over 13" Tall
Egyptian wooden figure of a standing male, Middle Kingdom, over 13" Tall
Egypt, Middle Kingdom, 11th to 12th Dynasty, ca. 2030 to 1640 BC
An impressive figure measuring over 13 inches in height. Skillfully carved. Once carved, the figure was covered in a thin layer of gesso and painted in red, black, cream, and white hues. This example still retains carved and painted facial details and a classic cap-styled coiffure.
He would have been an attendant in the afterlife, a boatman perhaps, or doing field work etc. During the Sixth Dynasty, it became common to place wooden models of lifelike scenes in Egyptian tombs; by the Middle Kingdom, they were placed in the tomb chamber, around the coffin, although some very lavish tombs had a separate chamber just for wooden models. Funerary boat models were created to assist in the deceased's journey through the underworld, and the most well-known models came from Meketre's tomb, more than half of which were funerary boats.
Size: c. 13 inches. tall, mounted on a modern green-painted base.
Condition: Choice for this fragile figure. Original gesso and paint, but laquered in parts, both feet reattached, loss of paint and gesso on the stomach, but an original and good-looking fellow.
Provenance: Jytte Soelberg Private Collection, bought in the 1970-1980 from much older collection of a Danish Engineer.