Shabti

Mummiform shabti wearing a tripartite wig that is painted black. The arms are folded above the waist. The hands may hold a pair of hoes but they are not at all obvious, and are probably mixed with the strands of a broad wesekh–collar that is painted in red on a yellow ground across the chest. A yoke is painted in red behind the left shoulder, and a small basket or, perhaps more likely, a brick mould is painted in the same colour behind the right shoulder. Below the rear lappet of the wig is a small basket that is flanked by a pair of water jars. The face is very crudely modelled. The body of the shabti is painted yellow except for a vertical column of white on the back, the area either side of the rear lappet of the wig, and the feet that are also painted white. Five horizontal rows of inscription, framed with red guide lines, are painted in black on the body of the figure. The inscription is impossible to decipher – the hieroglyphs fall into some sort of pattern with sHD (The illuminated one) being repeated three times in alternate lines. The direction of the hieroglyphs is very mixed. Perhaps this suggests the inscription was added much later. In profile the shabti is rather crudely worked with very large feet, and protruding mid–rif.