A Published Egyptian Limestone Fragment with Kneeling Figure, Old Kingdom, ca. 2200 BCE

This compact fragment from a tomb relief preserves the image of a kneeling offering bearer carved in shallow relief with incised contours. The figure presents a choice cut of meat, probably the foreleg of an ox, held forward in both hands. The restrained modeling and economical line are characteristic of late Old Kingdom workshop practice, when small-scale registers of offering bearers were standard decorative programs in private funerary chapels. 

Background: In Old Kingdom mastaba chapels, relief scenes of offering processions functioned to perpetually provision the deceased’s ka. Bearers are commonly shown standing or kneeling in horizontal registers, bringing produce, vessels, and butchered joints to the offering table. The foreleg (haunch) of an ox was among the most symbolically charged cuts, signifying strength and abundance and appearing prominently in offering lists and ritual sequences. Limestone was the preferred medium for such reliefs in the Memphite necropolis; surfaces were often coated with a thin wash or plaster and originally painted, though pigment rarely survives on small, detached fragments. The scale, subject, and carving style support a late Old Kingdom date (likely Dynasty VI), and the fragment probably belonged to a register flanking a false door. 

Published: Charles Ede, "Antiquities" Catalog 152, object #40

Medium: Limestone

Dimensions: Height: 5 inches (12.7 cm), Width: 3 inches (7.62 cm)

Condition: Very good; minor chips and surface wear.

Provenance: Thilo and Izora Steinschulte private collection, VA, acquired in 1990 from Charles Ede, Ltd., London, then by descent. Accompanied by a copy of the original collector's paperwork and dealer invoice.