Code: 2571
Description: The foot of a bright blue glazed faience ushabti belonging to a draughtsman with three columns of inscription added in black. The three columns of text possibly read …draughtsman (literally scribe of the outline)….this shabti….? The fragment broken at the mid-legs, with the lower legs and feet of figure only.
Size: 32 mm/1.2 ins. high
Culture: Egyptian
Date: Third Intermediate Period, 21st Dynasty, c. 1069-945 B.C.
Provenance: From the collection of Julian Bird (1959-2014) and acquired from Helios Gallery, Kingsdown, Wiltshire, in 2012, and previously in a Berkshire private collection, acquired in the early 20th Century.
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.
Reference: Compare No. 33 in Janes, G. 2002. Shabtis – A Private View, Ancient Egyptian funerary statuettes in European private collections, Éditions Cybèle, Paris, p. 65, for a ushabti of similar type.
