Busts of "ancestors"

 

Busts of "ancestors"

This limestone object, which was acquired in the art trade of Cairo in 1934 by J. Capart, belongs to a type of figurines which come for the most part from the village of the workers of Deir el-Medinah. Depicting one or two people in bust, these works represent individuals and not divinities. They were placed in the niches in the houses and commemorate in this way the ancestors of the family, becoming the "excellent spirits of Re" to which many offerings were dedicated. This figurine is a beautiful example of the "busts of ancestors" representing a couple, the woman on the left and the man on the right. It dates from the 19th or from the 20th Dynasty.

WEST BANK: DEIR EL-MEDINAH ?

B. Hornemann, Types of Ancient Egyptian Statuary, Munksgaard 1966, V 1222

E. Warmenbol (Éd.), Ombres d'Égypte, le peuple de Pharaon (Exposition), Treignes 1999, 79 nº 48

iNVENTORY NUMBER E.6807

KMKG - MRAH

http://www.globalegyptianmuseum.org/record.aspx?id=1127