Carved statuette of female figure standing and base. Figure has arms down by side, and carved pubic triangle. No obvious signs of applied pigment. Stands on square tenon which slots into aforementioned base. Doubtful authenticity of statue given the colour of the wood, and the 'shiny' nature of the wood. Unusually, the left side of the head sticks out further than the right. The arms are unusually long, and additionally appear glued on, rather than being applied with dowels. The base features a square hole, with five columns of text down the front, detailing an offering formula to Osiris. Whilst the majority of the text is grammatically correct, there are some peculiarities in terms of the spelling of 'Abydos', where the 'b' is seemingly omitted, and the hieroglyphs are carved at an angle, and with awkward sign placement. Moreover, there is only a single line of text on one side of the base, where there would typically be two, either a continuous line around the base, or two separate dedications. It is likely that this was an original base which has been repurposed/re-carved by someone who has emulated a formula found on another object. The underside of the base bears a handwritten note translating the inscription, and relays: "Translated by R.Engelbach. this dedication of a ka statuette from a sister to a sister is rare. Bought at Cairo 1928 - Price £ E 50 -".
Female figure, standing on base
Height: 23 cm
Height: 3.6 cm
Length: 13 cm
Width: 4.5 cm
Width: 5.1 cm
Method of acquisition: Given (1943) by Gayer-Anderson, Robert Grenville
Accession number: E.GA.4318.1943
Primary reference Number: 58776
Stable URI
Owner or interested party:
The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department:
Antiquities
This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:
The Fitzwilliam Museum (2025) "Statuette" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/58776 Accessed: 2025-12-05 15:45:23
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{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/58776
|title=Statuette
|author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2025-12-05 15:45:23|publisher=The
University of Cambridge}}
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