Fake Shabti with Nonsense Inscription

Fake Shabti with Nonsense Inscription

A fake Egyptian shabti in the form of a mummiform figure inscribed with a nonsense inscription. The fabric is mostly grey with buff accretions in the crevices. The reverse is flat with some mottling of darker grey and brown. The figure has a tripartite wig, almond shaped eyes, triangular nose and prominent lips. Around the neck is a six-stranded collar. The arms are well formed and crossed over the chest. Each hand holds a flail. Below the arms is a rectangular panel surrounded by a single line, inside which are a series of genuine glyphs forming a nonsense inscription. The feet are indicated only by a slight flaring of the base. Repaired.

The shabti is a fake of a well established type. The form is broadly similar to Late Period shabtis in faience, but terracotta is almost unknown from genuine ancient Egyptian pieces. The inscription is formed from real glyphs, but is nonsense, 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. This example is probably from the same mould as another collected by Pte Chenery (C.005.004; QM H14420). 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: 51 mm

Depth: 40 mm

C.005.003

QM H14419

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.

P.005

Mr James Donaldson