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Not currently on display at the V&A

Shabti

c. 1069 BC - 664 BC (made)
Artist/Maker
Unknown
Place of origin
Egypt (made)

Blue 'glassy faience' glazed composition shabti. The figure is mummiform or Osiriform, with tripartite wig and hands crossed across the chest holding a hoe and mattock. Facial features and details such as striations on the wig are painted in black under the glaze; the hoe and mattock have been moulded in relief and highlighted in black. An inscription painted in black, running vertically down the figure in multiple columns, contains the 'shabti spell' and includes the name and titles of the deceased.


Object details

Categories
Glass
Figures & Decorative Ceramics
Africa
Object type
Shabti
Materials and techniques
Glazed composition with painted inscription
Brief description
Shabti, blue glazed composition with painted inscription, Egypt, Third Intermediate Period
Physical description
Blue 'glassy faience' glazed composition shabti. The figure is mummiform or Osiriform, with tripartite wig and hands crossed across the chest holding a hoe and mattock. Facial features and details such as striations on the wig are painted in black under the glaze; the hoe and mattock have been moulded in relief and highlighted in black. An inscription painted in black, running vertically down the figure in multiple columns, contains the 'shabti spell' and includes the name and titles of the deceased.
Dimensions
  • Height: 15.0cm
Styles
Egyptian
New Kingdom
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.)
  • Transliteration
    .
Gallery label
Painted in hieroglyphs in purple-black.
Credit line
Given by Mrs. Mervyn Beech
Collection
Ceramics Collection
Accession number
C.61-1915

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Record createdDecember 13, 1997
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O5407/shabti-unknown/
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