Shabti of Djedher, green glazed composition with painted and impressed inscription, Egypt, Late Period

Green glazed composition shabti. The figure is mummiform or Osiriform, with a false beard, tripartite wig, and hands crossed over the chest holding a hoe and mattock, with a seed bag slung over the left shoulder. The figure has a moulded dorsal pillar. An impressed inscription inlaid with black, listing the name, title and family of the deceased, runs in a vertical column down the centre of the figure.

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.

1536-1871