Ushebti for the Overseer of the Granaries, Djedkhonsu-iwf-ankh.... Lot 17

Ushebti for the Overseer of the Granaries, Djedkhonsu-iwf-ankh. Ancient Egypt, Deir el Bahar, Third Intermediate Period, 21st Dynasty, 1070 - 945 BC. Fayyza. Provenance: Private collection, France, 1970 - 1980. Excavated by Herbert Winlock at Deir el-Bahri. The hieroglyphic text column translates as: "The Osiris, overseer of granaries, Djedkhonsu-iwf-ankh, justified." Intact. Measurements: 10.5 cm (ushebti); 13 cm (height with stand). Made of faience, this ushebti is in the form of a standing human figure, with the features and other details highlighted in black. She wears the typical Egyptian tripartite wig held in place with a ribbon, and is wrapped in a shroud that leaves her arms out, crossing them over her chest and holding emblems of power in her hands. On the belly and legs is written in hieroglyphs a text that would translate as 'The Osiris, overseer of granaries, Djedkhonsu-iwf-ankh, justified'. The ushebtis, an Egyptian term meaning 'those who answer', are small statuettes which, in ancient Egypt, were placed in tombs as part of the grave goods of the deceased, and whose function was to replace him in the work he had to carry out in the Afterlife. The ushabties placed in the grave goods consisted of 365 figurines, one for each day of the year. In addition, 36 foremen could be added, who commanded each of the crews composed of 10 workers. Most were made of ceramic, wood or stone, although in the richest tombs they could be found carved in lapis lazuli. The oldest surviving examples come from the Middle Kingdom, although there are references to them in texts from the end of the Early Empire. After the sacred scarabs, ushebtis are the most numerous and possibly the most characteristic pieces of Egyptian art that have survived to the present day. Throughout the ages they have always had the same function in the religious sphere, but while during the Middle Kingdom they were conceived as a representation of their owner before Osiris in the work of tillage in the kingdom of the shadows, replicas of the deceased, from the New Kingdom onwards they came to be seen as his servants or slaves, and were made in large quantities. Faience is a ceramic material with a vitreous finish that was widely used in Ancient Egypt to make small statues, amulets, etc. because its chromatic range could imitate more expensive stones such as lapis lazuli.