Estátua de um Homem Egípcio em Calcário, Final da 5ª Dinastia, Circa 2440-2355 A. C., Egito

 

Estátua de um Homem Egípcio em Calcário, Final da 5ª Dinastia, Circa 2440-2355 A. C., Egito
Fotografia


Property from an American Private Collection.
An Egyptian Limestone Figure of a Man.
Late 5th Dynasty, circa 2440-2355 B.C.
Striding on a rectangular base with slightly tapering back pillar, his arms held to his sides, his hands gripping short staves, with powerful legs and broad shoulders, and wearing a short wrap-around kilt, knotted belt with tab drawn up beside the navel, and short layered wig of notched curls; remains of red pigment on the body, yellow on the flap of the kilt, blue and turquoise on the knot and tab of the belt, and black on the wig, pillar, and base. Height 31 5/8 in; 80.3 cm.
Excavated at Giza (Serdab of Weri and Meti [G2415]), by American archeologist George Andrew Reisner on behalf of the Harvard University-Museum of Fine Arts, Boston expedition, and awarded to the museum by the Egyptian Government Antiquities Service in 1921.
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (Sotheby Parke Bernet, New York, December 14th, 1978, lot 304, illus.).
British Rail Pension Fund, United Kingdom (Sotheby's, London, July 2nd, 1996, no. 52).
acquired by the present owner after the above sale.
Egypt’s Old Kingdom (2663-2195 B.C.) is considered its Classical Age and nothing later ever quite equaled it. Renowned for its spare purity of form, the sculpture of this era, the Age of the Pyramids, has a timeless beauty and serenity unmatched by other periods. This commanding statue of a man is an outstanding example of the art of this incomparable era.
The figure was excavated by the great American archeologist, George Andrew Reisner working for the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston at Giza in the shadow of the Great Pyramid in 1913 and was awarded to the Museum by the Egyptian Government Antiquities Service through partage or a division of finds, which allowed foreign expeditions to retain and export some of the material they discovered in the course of their work.
The statue came from a tomb (G 2415) located in the Great Western Cemetery beside the Pyramid of Khufu belonging to a man named Weri and his wife Meti dating to the Fifth Dynasty, probably during the reign of Niuserra circa 2432-2421 B.C. It originally stood in the serdab or statue chamber, a feature of these mastaba tombs which contained sculptures of the tomb owner and his family. The statues served a purpose as a home for the spirit in case anything might happen to the mummy. For this reason an individual might have multiple images of him or herself, and usually depicted as young and vigorous. This statue is one of seven limestone figures that were found in the serdab, including ones of Weri and a pair statue of a man named Ikhui and his wife Bebi, who may have been relatives of Weri.
The statue is uninscribed, but most probably represents Weri, and depicts him striding forward with his left leg advanced in a pose typical of the period. He wears a wig composed or rows of curls and a knee-length kilt tied at the waist with a belt knotted in the front and the tab end sticking up beside his navel. His muscular arms grasp two round bosses, a stylistic feature often found in Egyptian sculpture. The cubic form of the image along with the back pillar were intended to make sure that the sculpture would survive intact as an eternal home for the soul. Such large statues are rare, as is the preservation of much of the pigment on the surface. William Stevenson Smith, art historian of the Old Kingdom, noted that the Weri group of sculptures, “…characterizes the best of the small private statues of Late Dynasty V.”