Further images
This torso is deeply evocative in its fragmentary form. It is comprised of the head, body, and upper thighs of a male figure wearing a cross-over kilt. The left side of the face is lost, but the surviving right eye and eyebrow with fine cosmetic line are carved with remarkable precision, as is the echeloned wig which retains its black pigment. The slender, athletic torso is skilfully modelled, with naturalistic rendering of the neck, clavicle, and pectoral muscles, complete with inlaid nipples. The figure originally stood in a striding pose, the left leg advanced, conveying purposeful movement. Intriguingly the carving of the back
uses the natural grain of the wood to indicate the shoulder blades. Remnants of the original white gypsum plaster decoration remain visible on the kilt. Rectangular dowels at the shoulders indicate where separate arms were once attached, though now lost. The bottom of the legs show traces of ancient fire damage, possibly accounting for their absence. Hairline cracks following the grain of the wood run from the top of the head, down the chest and into the kilt, with a wider crack run through part of the kilt to the break. Similar hairline cracks run down the back. The gesso cracked, with some modern losses, now stabilised. An old white collection label numbered ‘X354’ in black ink on the underside. To the back side of the sculpture the letters ‘LBO’ inscribed in black ink on the skirt. An old white circular collection label with ‘COLL ERNEST BRUMMER’ printed in black and numbered ‘6Q6WN[?]’ in blue ink, to the back of the proper right leg.Ancient Egyptian artisans were exceptional woodworkers, despite Egypt’s lack of native hardwood. Materials like cedar and ebony had to be imported from places such as Syria and Lebanon, requiring major economic investment. To minimise waste, craftsmen developed advanced joinery techniques, clearly seen in this figure, and produced works that were both functional and beautifully made. This statue dates to the Middle Kingdom, a period of reunification and artistic renewal widely seen by later Egyptians as a cultural high point.
Originally, the statue likely held a sceptre in the right hand and a staff in the left; symbols of status and authority. In Egyptian hieroglyphs, the staff often represented words like “official” or “nobleman.” High-ranking figures, such as viziers, typically carried the sekhem sceptre, a symbol of power, so it is most likely that the present figure carried such an object.
The white kilt echoes Old Kingdom fashions associated with elite status, and its sash may once have been painted with hieroglyphs naming the figure or quoting funerary scripture like the Coffin Texts, which aimed to ensure a safe journey into the afterlife.
Similar wooden statues have been found in Assiut (ancient Lycopolis), a major centre in Upper Egypt. Notable examples include figures of Merer, a Scribe of Divine Offerings, now at the Metropolitan Museum, and Hapidjefai, a provincial governor, housed in the Louvre. These parallels suggest that this figure may also represent a high official, perhaps a scribe, governor, or royal administrator.
Provenance
Isaac Newton Phelps Stokes (1867-1944), New York, USA; acquired prior to 18th November 1926
The Brummer Gallery, New York, USA; on consignment from the above 18th November 1926, inventory no.X354, then acquired from the above, 29th April 1943, inventory no.N5459
Sotheby’s, London, UK, The Ernest Brummer Collection, 16th-17th November 1964, lot 111
Michael Cane, Esq., UK
The Property of Michael Cane, Esq.; Sotheby’s, London, UK, Antiquities, 12th-13th July 1976, lot 421B
Private collection, Europe, 1976-2012
Private collection; acquired 2016
Ernest Brummer, born in 1891 in Sombor (then part of Austro-Hungary), began his studies in music at the Jesuit Academy in Budapest. He later shifted to art history and archaeology in Paris, studying at the Sorbonne and the École du Louvre under Salomon Reinach. He founded Brummer Gallery in Paris 1909, which later moved to New York and closed in 1949.
Much of his collection went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1947, but this piece remained in Ernest’s private collection until his death in 1964, at which point it was sold through Sotheby’s in a dedicated sale. According to Brummer Gallery records, it was consigned in 1926 by “Mr. Stokes”.
Literature
For the figure of Hapidjefai see E. Delange, Musée du Louvre, Catalogue des statues égyptiennes du Moyen Empire, 2060-1560 avant J.C. (Paris, 1987), pp.76-7, no.E 26915
For the figure of Merer see Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA, object number 10.176.57–60
Publications
Sotheby’s, London, UK, The Ernest Brummer Collection, 16th-17th November 1964, lot 111
The Property of Michael Cane, Esq.; Antiquities, Sotheby’s, London, UK, 12-13 July 1976, lot 421B
J. Malek, et al., Topographical Bibliography of Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic Texts, Statues, Reliefs and Paintings, vol. 8, part 1, (Oxford, 1999), p.362, no.801-423-190
Oliver Forge & Brendan Lynch, Fragments: From the Tiber to the Ganges (London, 2015), no.12
