Egyptian Wood Dummy Canopic Jar Egyptian Wood Dummy Canopic Jar Egyptian Wood Dummy Canopic Jar Egyptian Wood Dummy Canopic Jar Egyptian Wood Dummy Canopic Jar
Egyptian Wood Dummy Canopic Jar
Egyptian Wood Dummy Canopic Jar
Egyptian Wood Dummy Canopic Jar
Egyptian Wood Dummy Canopic Jar
Egyptian Wood Dummy Canopic Jar

Egyptian Wood Dummy Canopic Jar

SKU: MS.0071

Origin: Egypt
Circa: Third Intermediate Period, c. 1069-664 B.C.
Dimensions: 8.4" Height (21.5cms)
Medium: Wood

This beautifully rendered 'dummy' canopic jar is In the form of the human-headed Son of Horus, Imsety. It features an incised line indicating the division between the jar and the lid, however as the 'dummy' moniker indicates, it is not functional but made of one singular piece.  The face features large ears and the eyes and brows are added in black pigment.  A single column of hieroglyphs in black runs vertically down the front and reads 'The Osiris Imsety.' 

More information View images

Alice (1897-1991) and Yngve (1918-1974) Lyttkens collection, acquired in Egypt in the 1950s, probably 1957-1958; and thence by descent. Anonymous sale; Stockholms Auktionsverk, December 2015, lot 345516. Private collection, Sweden, acquired at the above sale

During the Third Intermediate Period canopic jars were not used to store the mummified organs of the deceased, as a practice developed of returning the embalmed viscera to the body. However, the use of canopic jars was such an essential element of tomb ritual that models of jars were used in their absence. These 'dummy' canopic jars were often carved out of a single block of stone or wood, and were not hollowed out. Imsety was the deity associated with protecting the liver.

For similar examples of dummy jars in limestone, see C. Roehrig, Mummies and Magic, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1988, p. 164-165, no. 117.

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Egyptian Wood Dummy Canopic Jar

EGYPTIAN

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