YOU ARE HERE:>>REAL or FAKE>>Fake ushabtis, section 3, page 6.

 

What do you think? 

 

 



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Well, the dealer name on the photo wil give it away to the better informed of you.

Completely fake or  just the glyphs? Hard to be sure.

 

It is a variation on the name of Nestahi . The first sign above the bird should be the tongue for ns, after the bird is the A . The t is missing; unles it's meant to be that little mark  above the  bird.

Whoever painted on these glyphs does not understand hieroglyphs.

 



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And this one  from the same source.

Shows that the maker does not understand ushabtis ether!

 



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Both of these from the same seller,  though I doubt the actual maker of any of these as I know that he did not have enough knowledge: well, that said, these do betray a lack of knowledge really!

 

Some of the other fakes passed on by this person.

 

I've had these images on my pc  for some time but have been impelled to create this page because.....



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One hopes that the buyer has read the text properly.

 

That's a lot for a fake which is technically good but stylistically grossly wrong.

 



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The text in the photo is rather difficult to read; this is what it says:

 

A VERY FINE MUSEUM QUALITY ANCIENT EGYPTIAN USHABTI

 

This is without exception one of the finest Ushabtis we currently have for sale. Crafted from a beautiful light-green composition (Faience), this superbly proportioned piece boasts a wealth of finely executed features.

 

The figure wears an undecorated tripartite wig and a board collar. The stern facial features and large ears portray character, personality, and superb craftsmanship, as do the hands, implements, and seed bag over the left shoulder. On the lower body, there are eight horizontal registers of finely incised hieroglyphs, still retaining portions of the original black pigment, which terminate at the long dorsal column. The first two lines of text bear reference to the owner, his father and his mother. The remaining six registers invoke the well known shabti spell (chapter 6 of the Book of the Dead).

 

USHABTIS:

Ushabtis also known as Shabtis or Shawabties are probably the most collectable of all artifacts to come from ancient Egypt. These magical statues were placed in tombs, and held the role of being servants or substitutes for the deceased. They were designed to accompany him or her into paradise, and comply with requests from the gods. It was common for as many as 365 Ushabtis and 36 Overseers to be placed in the tomb, thereby providing one to serve each day of the year. Royal Ushabtis ceased after the last pharaoh of the 30th Dynasty, Nectanebo II (c. 343 BC), but Ushabtis for private use continued in use until the end of the Ptolemaic Period.

   

4.4 inches tall.  (112 mm). This museum quality piece is fully intact with no chips or repairs of any kind. Old auction label attached: 39.0072. Ushabti. Tell el Yahudiyeh - Ward & Howell, Rochester New York. ***

 

PROVENANCE:

Attributed to the workshop of retired British art forger John Andrews. Andrews' work has been featured in numerous television broadcasts and the international press, and has recently been exhibited at London's Victoria & Albert Museum alongside the likes of Shaun Greenhalgh, John Myatt, Robert Thwaites and Ashley Russell. The exhibition is now scheduled to tour internationally. This piece is auctioned with a Certificate of Authenticity signed by the artist. Andrews' work both as a painter and counterfeiter is now highly collectable.    

 


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Interestingly, when this fake was first offered on the market a few years ago this interesting provenance was not mentioned at all.

 

The label  may well be genuine; but it's association with the "shabti" is new.

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From Phil.

Incidentally, Ward & Howell, of Rochester, NY, mentioned as the fake's fake provenance, does (or did) exist, though my impression was that they dealt in natural sciences types of things (fossils, minerals, etc) rather than antiquities (though Henry Augustus Ward was instrumental in setting up a number of museums around the world). They still exist in some form or another, I think mostly doing scientific supply for schools.

 

 

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Someone kindy just drawn my attention to this at the bottom of the ebay listing which I didn't notice:

 

Business Seller Information

Antiqus-2000

John Andrews

The Garden Studios
148A  etc etc etc

 

 

That is the person who claims to have made these and other fakes.

 

July '10

 

And now this!

A RARE MUSEUM QUALITY ANCIENT EGYPTIAN USHABTI FIGURE 

A finely molded work with Exceptional Provenance & COA.

 

COA = certificate of authenticity.

That's what it means doesn't it?

 




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What do you think of these two?

See here>>>

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More replicas with faked documents>>>>>>>>>>