Seated figure

ca. 2000 B.C.

This seated figure of an unknown official is one of the more unique and less well known sculpture types in Egyptian art. Probably made by a single workshop, other examples are in museums in Boston and Cairo. It may have marked a new direction for artisans accustomed to making wooden models and stone vessels.

Alabaster

10 3/8 x 4 x 5 3/4 in. (26.3 x 10.2 x 14.6 cm)

Gift of Mrs. Arthur O'Brien in memory of her husband, Col. Arthur O'Brien

44.34

Provenance: (Possibly from the tomb of Queen Hatasu (Hatshepsut)); Mrs. Edgar Ames, Seattle, Washington; gift from Mrs. Ames to Seattle Art Museum, March 1944

Photo: Elizabeth Mann

Now on view at the Seattle Art Museum

Resources

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, The Museum: Mixed Metaphors, Fred Wilson, Jan. 28 - June 13, 1993.

Published ReferencesTeeter, Emily, The Egyptian Collection of the Seattle Art Museum, in KMT: A Modern Journal of Ancient Egypt, Vol. 12, No. 3, Fall 2001, illus. p. 24

Kahl, Jochem. Die Statue Assiut. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2019; p. 93-100, reproduced fig. 25-32.

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