About This Artwork

Egyptian

Shawabty of Nebseni, New Kingdom, early Dynasty 18 (c. 1550-1292 B.C.)

Wood and pigment
Height: 28.2 cm (10 3/4 in.); width 28.2 cm (3 1/4 in.)
Inscription: O [thou] ushabti whom N. has instructed, lo, obstacles have been set up for him yonder. If (N.) is counted off for any work that is to be done in the god's domain, as a man to his duties, to cultivate the fields, to irrigate the shores, to transport sand of the east (and) of the west, "Here am I" shalt [tyou] say.

"[Belonged to] the scribe of the treasure of the god's (i.e., the kings') wife, Nebseni"
Gift of Henry H. Getty and Charles L. Hutchinson, 1892.28

Exhibition, Publication and Ownership Histories

Exhibition History

SO41205, 8/4/1949 - to Oriental Institute of Chicago; returned to Art Institute, Rof0 36975, 1/14/1993.

The Art Institute of Chicago, Ancient Art Galleries, Gallery 154A, 1994 - Feburary 2012. (except period of loan)

SOC9857, 8/19/1996 - Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, Ohio, for exhibit: "Mistress of the House, Mistress of Heaven: Women in Ancient Egypt" at Cincinnati Art Museum, 10/19/1996 - 1/5/1997 and Brooklyn Museum, 2/20/1997 - 5/18/1997.

Publication History

Thomas George Allen, A Handbook of the Egyptian Collection (Chicago, 1923), p 64 (ill.), 66n.

Emily Teeter, Egyptian Art, Museum Studies: Ancient Art at The Art Institute of Chicago 20, no. 1 (1994), pp. 21-22 (ill.), no. 6.