Asset number
1613088384
Description
Blue glazed composition shabti of Sety I: the lower leg section is lost. With details painted in black (probably manganese dioxide), Sety I is shown wealing the striped royal 'nemes' headcloth, once equipped with a rearing cobra above his brow, a broad collar that imitates glazed composition beads, and bracelets that also would have been of glazed composition. In each hand he holds a hoe, and from over his proper left shoulder hangs a rectangular grain bag - agricultural instruments recalling the function of such shabtis as servants for manual labour in the Beyond. The tasks are enumerated in the carefully drawn bands of text drawn from Chapter 6 of the 'Book of the Dead'. Though mould-made, details of the facial features, hoes, and grain bag were probably added with a sharp tool before firing, a general practice that accounts for the variation of features in mould-made shabtis.The lack of glaze in the devices suggests the piece was self-glazed.
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