Code: 2455
Description: A small pale green faience ushabti of stylised form with rudimentary facial features wearing tripartite wig, with long beard and large eyes, the hands barely modelled and standing on a pedestal base. Impressed heiroglyphs on the front read shd wsir, ‘Illuminating the Osiris’, whilst impressed text on the back gives the owners name, ‘(…)-ir-kas’ (?). The surface worn and fractures across the waist and ankles repaired.
Size: 68 mm/2.7 ins. high
Culture: Egyptian
Date: Ptolemaic Period, c. 3rd Century B.C.
Provenance: From the collection of Julian Bird (1959-2014) and acquired from Helios Gallery, Kingsdown, Wiltshire, in 2012, and previously in a UK private collection.
Background: Julian Bird was a passionate collector of Egyptian antiquities, who built up a fine and extensive collection from the 1970s onwards. He sourced his items mainly from the UK market, from specialist dealers, fairs, markets and auctioneers. He was a model collector, carefully documenting his collection, and his notes on this particular item will be supplied to the buyer.
