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Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Ceramics, Room 145

Figure

664 BC - 525 BC (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Green glazed composition shabti. The figure is mummiform or Osirifom, with a false beard, tripartite wig, and arms crossed over the chest holding a hoe and mattock, with a seed bag slung over the left shoulder. An impressed inscription containing the typical 'shabti spell', and including the name, family and titles of the deceased, runs in nine horizontal bands around the figure, mimicing mummy wrappings. The figure has a moulded dorsal pillar and stands on a plinth.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Glazed composition with impressed inscription
Brief description
Shabti of Psamtik, green glazed composition with impressed inscription, Egypt, Late Period, probably Dynasty Twenty-Six
Physical description
Green glazed composition shabti. The figure is mummiform or Osirifom, with a false beard, tripartite wig, and arms crossed over the chest holding a hoe and mattock, with a seed bag slung over the left shoulder. An impressed inscription containing the typical 'shabti spell', and including the name, family and titles of the deceased, runs in nine horizontal bands around the figure, mimicing mummy wrappings. The figure has a moulded dorsal pillar and stands on a plinth.
Styles
Marks and inscriptions
Portion of Book of the Dead Chapter 6 ('Shabti spell') (Such spells were inscribed or painted on shabti to ensure that they would undertake all necessary labour on behalf of the deceased in the Afterlife.)
Object history
The Reverend Greville John Chester (1830-1892), born in Denton, Norfolk, studied at Oxford and became an ordained clergyman before sickness forced him to retire in 1865. For his ailing health, he was encouraged to travel to Egypt, making his first visit that year; he subsequently travelled there almost every year until his death, alongside journeys elsewhere across the Mediterranean and Near East. Each year, Chester bought items en masse, to sell or donate to British institutions upon returning. His acquisitions form a considerable backbone of the early holdings at the V&A, British Museum, Ashmolean and Fitzwilliam. His contributions to the Victoria and Albert Museum incorporate both ancient and Islamic artefacts, predominantly but not exclusively purchased in Egypt; the most significant acquisitions include several hundred fragments of Late Antique textiles from Akhmim, given to the museum between 1887 and 1892. Chester was widely regarded as having a keen eye for acquisitions, and cultivated close friendships with several prominent Egyptologists. He was also notable for recording the provenance of many ancient items he purchased, an unusual practice for the time.


Production
Made for Psamtik, son of Mer-Neith, Overseer of the Scribes of the King's Breakfast
Association
Collection
Accession number
1535-1871

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Record createdJune 24, 2009
Record URL
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