Works of Art
Egyptian figure of a standing man
Period: Middle Kingdom, 11th-12th Dynasty, circa 2040-1785 B.C.
Culture: Egypt
Category: Array
Dimensions: Height : 28 cm
Price: POR
Condition: Unrestored. Fragment from right proper forehead and eyebrow, arms, left front foot and right leg lacking. Originally covered in a thin layer of painted gesso (remaining traces most visible at right proper shoulder) with inlaid eyes (blue-green adhesive remaining). Eyebrows and nipples indicated in black. Left leg broken and repaired drilled for insertion of a metal sleeve and rod for stability. Original pin for attachment of right arm remaining.
Description
This charming figure represents a mature man with careworn expression, left leg striding, starched kilt gathered at right. Originally intended for placement in the tomb of a private (i.e. non royal) man, the striding man would probably have been placed beside another figure of the same scale representing the tomb owner in his youth. The rendering of the human face to indicate age and experience is an artistic convention that originated with Middle Kingdom sculpture and, indeed, is the hallmark of the best sculpture from this period. The figure is carved from cedar, a hardwood imported from Lebanon, whereas the base is a native softwood.
The closest parallel for the striding man is a life-size wooden figure excavated at Asyut and now in the Louvre. The shaven elongated skull, large and carefully rendered ears, serious mien, prominent clavicles, rectilinear attenuated torso, and long strached kilt are all distinguishing characteristics of refined style from Middle Egypt in 11th-12th Dynasties. Although incomplete and smaller than the celebrated Louvre example, this figure is a more subtle and sensitively rendered work of art. The forms of the legs emerges from the heavy fabric of the kilt, which carefully traces the swell of the belly.
Bibliography
C. ZIEGLER, A. CAUBET, M. BERNUS-TAYLOR and A. PASQUIER, Le Louvre, les Antiquités, 1993, p. 39.