AN EGYPTIAN GESSO-PAINTED WOOD STATUE OF THE NOBLEMAN, KHETY

EARLY MIDDLE KINGDOM, DYNASTY XI, CIRCA 2134-1991 B.C.

Details

AN EGYPTIAN GESSO-PAINTED WOOD STATUE OF THE NOBLEMAN, KHETY
EARLY MIDDLE KINGDOM, DYNASTY XI, CIRCA 2134-1991 B.C.
The finely modelled striding figure shown with prominent eyebrows, breasts and stomach, wearing flared below-the-knee kilt, his right hand tucked into the flap of his garment, his left hand clenched, finely detailed nails with traces of colour and gessoed red paint around the feet, the tenons below slotting into a red painted base incised on top with the hieroglyphs: "the revered one, Khety"
11¼ in. (28.5 cm.) high; base: 7¼ x 3¼ in. (18.5 x 8.3 cm.) (2)

Provenance

Baron Empain collection (1852-1929), France.
Accompanied by a French passport.

Lot Essay

Sculpture in living wood of living figures is unsurpassed in this period of the late 3rd-early 2nd millennium B.C. Primarily they were made, not as ka-statues or seated stone figures, passively awaiting offerings, but as potential living substitutes for the tomb owner, actively engaged in exercising his earthly role in the eternal realm. A number of wood statues have been found in tombs depicting the owner in different stages of his life from prime age to maturity, suggesting he held several offices in his lifetime. Considering the quality of the carving it is surprising there is no title on the base of the statue of Khety. This popular name was adopted by two of the Herakleopolitan rulers as well as found widely at Asyut. Cf. M. Zitman, "The Necropolis of Assiut from the Old Kingdom to the End of the New Kingdom", Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta 180, Leuven-Paris-Walpole, MA, 2010. As in Egypt today, a paunch was associated with status, wealth and style.

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