An Egyptian White Faience Shabti for Neferenpet, 19th Dynasty, ca. 1293 - 1185 BCE

Shabtis of this style belonged to the prophet priests of Ptah at Memphis who had a semi-royal status (cf. J.F. Aubert, Statuettes Egyptiennes, Paris, 1974, p. 91). This example shows the mummiform figure of Neferrenpet, Vizier of Egypt, and High Priest of Ptah under Ramesses II. It is made from white faience with a transparent glaze with features carefully highlighted in dark pigment. He wears a striated short black wig with a curled side-lock, a small goatee, and around his neck is a wide broad collar with a lower row of beads. Both hands protrude from the mummy shroud to hold a hoe, for work in the afterlife, and on his back is a wide seed sack. A single column of vertical text runs down the front that reads: "The illuminated one, the sem-priest of Ptah, Neferrenpet.”

White faience shabtis were difficult to produce, for, during the production of the white faience, it was important to make sure colored impurities did not mix with the transparent glaze. It was also critical that the iron or manganese oxides, used to provide the black detail highlights, were applied with great precision to ensure they did not mix or run.

cf: A. Wiese, Agyptische Kunstwerke aus der Sammlung Hans & Sonja Humbel {Basel, 2014); pp. 86- 87 no. 38.

Medium: Faience

Dimensions: Height: 5 1/2 inches (13.8 cm)

Condition: The shabti is intact and in very good condition overall.  The authenticity has been confirmed by a thermoluminescence test performed by QED laboratory in France and an XRF analysis performed by Emory University in Georgia.

Provenance: Neferrenpet shabtis originate from the Serapeum, the tomb of the holy Apis bulls at Saqqara during the period of Ramesses II, during his years of rule 16 and 30, and supervised by Chaemwese, the fourth son of Ramses II. This tomb was excavated by A. Mariette at the Serapeum in Saqqara in 1852. Thereafter Dr. Leopold Benguerel collection, acquired from the London art market during the 1960s, thereafter private Virginia collection, acquired from the NY trade in 2014. Accompanied by Art loss Register Certificate number S00087072.