COLLECTION of EGYPTIAN ART

Éva Liptay: Ancient Egyptian Wooden Figures

Title/Description

Female figure from a model group: Female porter/Offering bearer

Material

wood, ground layer, paint; worn and damaged; dowel on the top of the head (missing basket from the top of the head); missing arms

Dimensions

H: 22.2 cm W (max.): 4 cm D: 3.5 cm (at the head)

Iconography

Posture: left foot slightly advanced
Body: painted ochre
Wig/Hair: black painted long straight hair or wig; basket from the top of the head missing
Face: prominent eyes set straight, painted white and black
Dress: knee-length white dress supported by one strap over the right shoulder; the left, uncovered breast marked with a black rosette; both arms missing

Function

Funerary furniture/Part of the private burial equipment (Figure of a group bringing supplies for the deceased in a ritual procession)

Date

First half of Middle Kingdom

Origin

Unknown

Provenance

Unknown (Purchased from a private collector in 1957 (together with 57.7-E, 57.8-E and 57.9-E))

Bibliography

Kákosy 1959, 3-4 Kákosy, L., Nouvelles statuettes de serviteurs dans la Collection Égyptienne / Újabb szolgaszobrok az Egyiptomi Gyűjteményben, Bulletin du Musée Hongrois des Beaux-Arts 14 (1959), 3–9/101–104.

Varga – Wessetzky 1964, 14 Varga, E. – Wessetzky, V., Egyiptomi kiállítás, Budapest 1964.

I. Nagy 1999, 23 and fig. 9 Nagy, I., Vezető az Egyiptomi Kiállításhoz (A Szépművészeti Múzeum Gyűjteményei 2), Budapest 1999 (= Guide to the Egyptian Collection (Collections of the Museum of Fine Arts, 2), Budapest 1999).

Z. Horváth in Kóthay – Liptay 2012, cat. 6a Kóthay, K. A. – Liptay, É. (szerk.), A Szépművészeti Múzeum Egyiptomi Gyűjteménye, Budapest 2012.

Z. Horváth in Kóthay – Liptay 2013, cat. 7a. Kóthay, K. A. – Liptay, É. (eds.), Egyptian Artefacts of the Museum of Fine Arts Budapest, Budapest 2013.

Parallels

Boston, Museum of Fine Arts, 21.882 (Deir el-Bersha; Dynasty 11 - early Dynasty 12) (A. M. J. Tooley, Middle Kingdom Burial Customs. A study of wooden models and related material, PhD Diss. Univ. Liverpool 1989, 206)
London, Petrie Museum, UC45826 (early Middle Kingdom)

Inventory Number

57.6-E