About This Artwork

Egyptian

Statue of Osiris, Ptolemaic Period (c. 305–30 B.C.)

Wood, pigment, gold leaf
62.9 x 12.7 x 27.3 cm (24 3/4 x 5 x 10 3/4 in.)
Front:
Words said by Osiris, Foremost of the Westerners, the Great God, Lord of Abydos, that he may give offerings to the Hathor, Osiris-ir-des, daughter of Wsim-nechen (?) true of voice.
Back:
[A gift that the king gives] to Osiris, Foremost of the Westermers, the Great God, Lord of Abydos, that he may give invocation offerings consisting of bread, beer, and every good and pure thing upon which the god lives, [to] the Hathor, Osiris-ir-des, daughter of Wsim-nechen (?), true of voice.

Gift of Phoenix Ancient Art, S.A., 2002.542

Exhibition, Publication and Ownership Histories

Publication History

Maarten J. Raven, Papyrus-sheaths and Ptah-Soker-Osiris Statues, Oudheidkundige Mededelingen uit het Rijksmuseum van Oudheden te Leiden, 59-60 (Leiden, 1980), p. 267, type IV-C.

Christie's, New York, Antiquities, June 5, 1998, lot No. 61.

Elizabeth Feery, “Statue of Osiris,” Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies 29, 2 (2003), pp. 52-53 (color ills.).

Francesca Casadio, Emily Heye, and Karen Manchester, “From the Molecular to the Spectacular: A Statue of Osiris through the eyes of a Scientist, a Conservator, and a Curator,” Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies 31, 2 (2005), pp. 8-15, figs. 1-10.

Manchester, Karen. 2012. Recasting the Past: Collecting and Presenting Antiquities at the Art Institute of Chicago, pp.44-45(cat.2), 110. Art Institute of Chicago/Yale University Press.




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