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This not very attractive  small green faience figure apears to be holding tools as do most shabtis.

It's possible that the bottom half, the legs,  belong to a diferrent piece but looking at the thing closely it's not possible to be certain about that.

43mm.

Is it a shabti?

 






From Dik.

Psusennes II ???

 




From Tim

 

An ugly brute indeed!  And not a shabti on the grounds that it has one foot forward, indicating that the subject is either alive or a god.  Shabtis are always feet together (although I'll probably regret saying 'always'... :) and very interesting with the two hoes.   The face is familiar but I can't quite place it at the moment.  As a general (but not absolute) rule, 'shabtis don't have necks', in particular when viewed from front or back,since the wig usually falls vertically on to the shoulders.  I think your suggestion that it is a pastiche is likely correct.  Could it even be possible that head, torso and legs come from separate pieces?! 

 

 From Rich

22nd December 08

This appears to be made in marble.

Any ideas what it is?

 



From Alain

20th January 2009

 

Opinions vary but according to many this piece is not genuine. 

This is said to be a modern repro, forgery, rendering, etc…. Fine by me!

The head is 23cm high, weighting 5kg approx and stands alone

 

 

My points would be:

1- Nemes: must be typical of a  deity, goddess or queen? Any name or period?

2- Modern sculpture: any chance to restrict this ‘modern’ notion to a  more specific period by identifying the artist, faker, workshop they final touch or signature (or other mean)?

3- Material: if pics not good enough to figure out the material, would the density help??

4- Prolonged immersion: this head is said to be found underwater (tropical belt). Would it be in such preserved condition,  say, after 80 to 100 years immersion only ? I, personaly, like the modern wreckage scenario…

 

Thanks!

 








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I have put this in the "What is this?" section rather than the "Is this genuine?" section as I dont think it is ancient.

I also have a nice example of this type of "After The Egyptian style ".

(Probably would sell on ebay as genuine!) 

 




 

From Aziz

21st Jan 09

Both the heads are ovbviously not genuine ancient pieces as you say, and the second one is much more attractive.

I don't beleive that there is any way to tell how old the head in question is but such things have been made in Egypt for a couple of hundred years.

Aziz

 

From James

22nd Jan 09

Hi,

I cannot see any evidence of long sea-water  immersion.

None of the typical accretions.

I would say it's defintely a modern piece.

 

Well, at least both of these are prettier than  these monstrosities being offered on eBay as genuine!






Alain replies

23rd Jan 09

 

 

Thanks to Aziz for his wise comment, I would go a little further saying that forgery –in all respects, fields or cultures- is as old as the manufacturing of the ‘originals’. A very old activity indeed! Just to come back to the point: a 1/2000 years old copy or a recent one just moved out from the workshop?!!

 

 

 

Hi James, thanks for your comment and you are absolutely right by mentioning the absence of accretions of any kind. What about the same piece buried and protected  in a sandy or muddy bottom for whatever period? Some materials just come up as neat as the first day of they immersion, even in salt water. Without necessarily making this piece a ‘modern’ one. Would you agree on that?

 

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