with Dikran Kelekian (1868-1951), New York. Lester Wolfe (1897-1983) collection, New York. The Late Lester Wolfe; Sotheby's, New York, 1-2 March 1984, lot 109. The Late Lester Wolfe; Sotheby's, New York, 8-9 February 1985, lot 8. Anonymous sale; Pierre Bergé, Paris, 14 December 2009, lot 1
Surface wear and extensive paint loss throughout, large transverse fissure to the head, superficial cracks on the kilt, with chipping and losses to the base.
The custom of placing small wooden statues in the subterranean part of a tomb, which began in the late Old Kingdom, continued well into the Middle Kingdom in certain parts of Egypt. Some have been found inside coffins and statues of this type do not always bear the name of the person represented. Presumably this was not considered necessary because of their proximity to the mummy itself.
As in most wooden statues in ancient Egypt, where fine wood was scarce and expensive, the arms of this statue were made separately and pegged to the body, and the feet tenoned into a separate base. The hallmarks of late Old Kingdom style are all present here--long, slender torso and limbs with little indication of musculature, a somewhat overlarge head and very large eyes; a face that tapers to a narrow jaw, and a broad smiling mouth. The attenuated slenderness of the figure differs from both the taut muscularity of the earlier Old Kingdom, and the fleshy physique of the Middle Kingdom figures.
For the form of the kilt compare the wood figure of a man, said to be from Assiut, now in the Louvre, pp. 206-207 in E. Delange, Catalogue des statues égyptiennes du Moyen Empire, 2060-1560 avant J.-C., 1987.
Russman E.R., Eternal Egypt: Masterworks of Ancient Art from the British Museum, London, 2001, pp. 74–75, no. 8, and pp. 95-96, no. 24.
