Fake Figurine with Cartouche of Ramses II

Fake Figurine with Cartouche of Ramses II

A fake Egyptian figurine in the form of a mummiform Osiris, with the cartouche of Ramses II on the front. The figurine is a kind of pseudo-shabti with a pale orange fabric and no slip. Osiris wears a tall 'atef' crown and a false beard. The face is wide with thin eyes and mouth. The arms of the figure are poorly formed, but the hands are indicated and hold a crook and flail. Below the arms and along the body is a panel of decoration between two parallel lines. The first register has a small section of vertical lines above a large cartouche of Ramses II. Below this large register are five smaller registers decorated only with vertical lines and each seperated by a horiztonal line. The feet protrude out from the body and are undecorated.

The figurine is a fake of a well established type. The form is unattested in shabti figures of any period, and the Osiris form is more usual in wood or bronze. Terracotta shabtis and figurines are unknown from genuine ancient Egyptian pieces. The use of the cartouche of Ramses II, poorly executed, is a common device to lend authenticity to such forgeries.

Fake figurines, including shabtis, were produced in vast numbers in Egypt in the late 19th and early 20th centuries for sale to unsuspecting tourists. Many examples are known from First World War collections but it is unknown how Pte Chenery came to acquire his collection of fake statues as he apparently never visited Egypt during his war service.

AD 1900 - AD 1915

Height: 170 mm

Width: 43 mm

Depth: 42 mm

C.005.001

QM H14417

© Queensland Museum, Peter Waddington.

Said to have been collected by Pte. F Chenery, Egypt, 1917-18.

Queensland Museum, Brisbane

Hagen, F. & Ryholt, K. S. B. (2016). The antiquities trade in Egypt 1880-1930: the H.O. Lange papers. Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab, pp. 147-52.

Jones, M. (ed.). (1990). Fake? The Art of Deception. British Museum, no. 272.

Potter, D. (2019). The Mystery of Modern Shabtis. National Museums Scotland Blog. https://blog.nms.ac.uk/2019/10/28/mystery-modern-shabtis/

Schneider, H. (1970). Shabtis: an introduction to the history of ancient Egyptian funerary statuettes with a catalogue of the collection of shabtis in the national Museum of Antiquities at Leiden. Rijksmuseum, vol. II, pp. 5-6.

Wakeling, T.G. (1912). Forged Egyptian Antiquities. A&C Black.

Steindorff, G., & Rosenthal, G. (1947). Fakes and Fates of Egyptian Antiquities: A Supplement to the Catalogue of Egyptian Sculpture. The Journal of the Walters Art Gallery, 10, 52-59. www.jstor.org/stable/20168799

Queensland Museum Historical Register, H14417-23.

Aubert, J. F., & Aubert, L. (2005). Statuettes funéraires égyptiennes du département des Monnaies, Médailles et Antiques. Éditions de la Bibliothèque nationale de France, pp. 273-5.

P.005

Mr James Donaldson