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Metropolitan Museum of Art — Egyptian Art (Open Access) · statue

Head and chest of a shabti figure

Source of record: Metropolitan Museum of Art — Egyptian Art (Open Access) — catalogued by the holding institution. View the original record →

Description

Middle Kingdom, late Dynasty 12 to Dynasty 13, ca. 1850–1650 B.C. Steatite or serpentinite. H. 5.8 × W. 4.5 × D. 4.4 cm (2 5/16 × 1 3/4 × 1 3/4 in.). From: Egypt. Credit: Bequest of Nanette B. Kelekian, 2020.

AI image analysis GPT-5.4-nano

Machine-generated from the object's image on Jul 2026. Not curatorial; treat deities, names, and signs below as the model's best reading, not authority.

The image shows a small carved Egyptian figure head with shoulders/chest, featuring a bearded, painted/outlined facial expression and a tripartite wig or head covering.

A dark, stone sculpture depicts only the head and upper torso of a shabti-like figure. The face has a stylized rectangular arrangement: almond-shaped eyes with dark inlays/lines, a straight nose, and a short, stylized beard. The head covering/wig appears as a thick, rounded mass with separated side elements extending down the sides of the face and toward the shoulders. The remaining upper chest is visible with a simple, smooth surface and minimal detail. The stone surface is worn, with minor chips along the break edges, especially at the lower perimeter. No hieroglyphs, cartouches, or inscriptions are visible on the head/chest portion shown. There is no clear depiction of specific deities beyond the general funerary/servant-figure type.

funerary Middle Kingdom (per catalogue; image does not contradict) fragmentary
Materials dark stone (steatite or serpentinite per catalogue)

Cross-references (4)

  • Wikidata-Q Q116408082 tier-1
  • Collection-QID Q160236 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
  • Inventory-Number 2021.41.7 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
  • MET-Object 329774 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
About this record's data
  • From the source institution — accession, description, dimensions, and dating are as catalogued by Metropolitan Museum of Art — Egyptian Art (Open Access).
  • AI-inferred — the image-analysis panel (deities, names, signs) is machine-generated and may be wrong.
  • Approximate location — most map points are plotted at the site centroid, not the exact findspot.
  • Inferred links — cross-references marked with a match method other than explicit-source-field were matched by us, not stated by the source.