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Many ancient Egyptian objects on display in museums today were created from quarried stone, but other materials were popular throughout pharaonic history & still survive in the archaeological record. For #statuesunday, let’s explore wooden statues from @britishmuseum collection!
Some of the earliest surviving wooden objects include Old Kingdom statuettes which were placed within the tomb, such as these models from the 6th Dynasty tomb of the official Meryrahashtef (EA 55722, 55723) #statuesunday
This official had two other male wooden figures, all presumably representing himself, and this figure particularly demonstrates the artists’ skill in rendering physical details of the body, and has been expertly carved from a single piece of ebony! #statuesunday
The female figure from this tomb is carved from native sycamore wood. She is also depicted nude and has a line of black paint traced down the centre – was this the artist’s visual aid to ensure the equal modelling the body? #statuesunday
The convention of including wooden models within the tomb was not limited to portrayals of individuals, and indeed many group figures depicted scenes of food or beer production, farming and boats! (EA 52947, 41576, 35291) #statuesunday
A collection of lesser-known and obscure wooden objects include paddle dolls such as these, with most examples known from the Middle Kingdom, and which can range from simple modelled shapes to figures with painted geometric patterns (EA 22632, EA 6459) #statuesunday
Wooden statuettes of the tomb owner continued to placed within funerary spaces during the Middle Kingdom, & the skill in woodwork continued to be demonstrated – for instance this 12th Dynasty statue from Deir el-Bersha (EA 30715), with an intricately modelled face #statuesunday
The beautifully carved statue incorporates the natural patterning of the wood, but features many technical additions such as the painted wig and eyes, and also the inlaying of smaller pieces of darker wood to convey the nipples! #statuesunday
We should also mention shabtis – these funerary figurines could be composed from various materials such as wood, faience, or stone, & could represent the royal or elite tomb owner or be a ‘servant’ for the afterlife who would perform manual labour on their behalf. #statuesunday
Here are a few beautiful examples of shabtis from @britishmuseum! (These demonstrate the skill of intricately carving inscription into the material, but also the variety of how text could be inscribed across the body (EA 8604, 56929, 33919, the latter of Seti I!) #statuesunday
Other royal wooden images include this pair of large statues representing the 19th Dynasty king Ramesses I (EA 854, EA 883) from his tomb. These are composed of the native sycamore wood rather than imported cedar, which was more common for larger scale statues. #statuesunday
While the composition of these statues remains the same as the much smaller and earlier tomb models which also used tenons and joins to attach separate pieces of wood, here traces of gesso and bitumen have been used to cover these and provide a smooth finish! #statuesunday
Well-preserved figures such as this New Kingdom female figure (EA 32772) demonstrate what details could be conveyed on wood, including the intricate curls of the wig and pleated garment, as well as the diadem, lotus flower & bouquet of flowers with red & blue paint #statuesunday
Wood continued to be a valuable material used well into the later phases of pharaonic history, from elite monuments (EA 67138) to female musicians (EA 48658) and divine figures (EA 20868) #statuesunday
Images of Osiris and the composite deity Ptah-Sokar-Osiris were particularly common in wooden form during the Late Period; the @britishmuseum have many examples which are worth browsing on their website if you’re interested, but here are just a few! (EA 9761, 16784, 23046)
We are often drawn towards the monumental stone objects from ancient Egypt which survive in greater quantities than organic materials, but I hope this thread has highlighted that wooden objects also demonstrate the skill & capabilities of the ancient artist! Happy #statuesunday!
