nuxt-macm-collection

Limestone relief depicting eight funerary estates personified as women carrying food provisions for the afterlife. The relief comes from the Tomb of Pehenuka from Saqqara. He served as Chief Justice and Vizir in late Dynasty V or slightly thereafter. The tomb was initially recorded by R. Lepsius in the 19th century and its estates were studied by H. K. Jacquet-Gordon in 1962. The estates, personified as striding women, were dedicated to providing sustenance in perpetuity for Pehenuka's funerary chapel. The repetition of these similar images creates and emphasizes the feeling of movement from one room to another.

h. 34 x w. 141 x d. 3.5 cm

Old Kingdom, 5th Dynasty, 2465-2323 BC

Limestone

Provenance

According to 1849-1859 publication, it was discovered in Egypt in the first half of 1800s
Ex English private collection, 1970s
Swiss, American and London dealers, 2003-2004
Christie's New York, Antiquities Sale, 8th June 2004, lot 102 (unsold)
Formerly on the London art market, consigned by a London dealer, 2005
Christie's New York Antiquities Sale, 8th June 2005, lot 2
Ex English private collection
Acquired at Christie’s London, Sale 5399, 30th April 2008, lot 205

Publications

R. Lepsius, Denkmäler aus Ägypten und Äthiopien, Berlin, 1849-1859, III, part 2, p. 46
H. K. Jacquet-Gordon, Les noms des domaines funéraires sous l'Ancien Empire égyptien, Cairo, 1966, figs. 142 and 369-370, no. 29-34
E. Porter and R. L. B. Moss, Topographical Bibliography of Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic Texts, Reliefs and Paintings, III, Memphis, Part II, Saqqara to Dashur, J. Málek, Oxford, 1978, no. 491-492
Christie's New York, Antiquities Sale, 8th June 2004, lot 102
Christie's New York, Antiquities Sale, 8th June 2005, lot 29
Christie's London, Antiquities Sale, 30th April 2008, lot 205
Minerva: the International Review of Ancient Art & Archaeology, September - October 2008, vol. XIX, p. 47
P. Clayton, "Ancient Egypt" in M. Merrony (ed.), Mougins Museum of Classical Art, France, 2011, p. 35, fig. 1

Exhibitions

Musée d'Art Classique de Mougins (MACM), Mougins, France, from June 2011

N.B. Our online collection is being continually updated thanks to ongoing research and documentation efforts carried out by the MACM documentation team. Any additional information is welcome, please contact us.

Egyptian Limestone Relief

Provenance

Publications

Exhibitions