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<em>Stela with Sculptor’s “Signature”</em>, ca. 1836–1759 B.C.E. Limestone, 20 1/4 x 12 3/16 x 3 7/16 in., 40.5 lb. (51.5 x 31 x 8.8 cm, 18.37kg). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.1347E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 37.1347E_view1_PS9.jpg)
Stela with Sculptor’s “Signature”, ca. 1836–1759 B.C.E. Limestone, 20 1/4 x 12 3/16 x 3 7/16 in., 40.5 lb. (51.5 x 31 x 8.8 cm, 18.37kg). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.1347E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 37.1347E_view1_PS9.jpg)
<em>Stela with Sculptor’s “Signature”</em>, ca. 1836–1759 B.C.E. Limestone, 20 1/4 x 12 3/16 x 3 7/16 in., 40.5 lb. (51.5 x 31 x 8.8 cm, 18.37kg). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.1347E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 37.1347E_view1_PS9.jpg)

Stela with Sculptor’s “Signature”, ca. 1836–1759 B.C.E. Limestone, 20 1/4 x 12 3/16 x 3 7/16 in., 40.5 lb. (51.5 x 31 x 8.8 cm, 18.37kg). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.1347E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 37.1347E_view1_PS9.jpg)

<em>Stela with Sculptor’s “Signature”</em>, ca. 1836–1759 B.C.E. Limestone, 20 1/4 x 12 3/16 x 3 7/16 in., 40.5 lb. (51.5 x 31 x 8.8 cm, 18.37kg). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.1347E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 37.1347E_view2_PS9.jpg)

Stela with Sculptor’s “Signature”, ca. 1836–1759 B.C.E. Limestone, 20 1/4 x 12 3/16 x 3 7/16 in., 40.5 lb. (51.5 x 31 x 8.8 cm, 18.37kg). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.1347E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 37.1347E_view2_PS9.jpg)

<em>Stela with Sculptor’s “Signature”</em>, ca. 1836–1759 B.C.E. Limestone, 20 1/4 x 12 3/16 x 3 7/16 in., 40.5 lb. (51.5 x 31 x 8.8 cm, 18.37kg). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.1347E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 37.1347E_SL1.jpg)

Stela with Sculptor’s “Signature”, ca. 1836–1759 B.C.E. Limestone, 20 1/4 x 12 3/16 x 3 7/16 in., 40.5 lb. (51.5 x 31 x 8.8 cm, 18.37kg). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.1347E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 37.1347E_SL1.jpg)

<em>Stela with Sculptor’s “Signature”</em>, ca. 1836–1759 B.C.E. Limestone, 20 1/4 x 12 3/16 x 3 7/16 in., 40.5 lb. (51.5 x 31 x 8.8 cm, 18.37kg). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.1347E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 37.1347E_negA_bw_IMLS.jpg)

Stela with Sculptor’s “Signature”, ca. 1836–1759 B.C.E. Limestone, 20 1/4 x 12 3/16 x 3 7/16 in., 40.5 lb. (51.5 x 31 x 8.8 cm, 18.37kg). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.1347E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 37.1347E_negA_bw_IMLS.jpg)

<em>Stela with Sculptor’s “Signature”</em>, ca. 1836–1759 B.C.E. Limestone, 20 1/4 x 12 3/16 x 3 7/16 in., 40.5 lb. (51.5 x 31 x 8.8 cm, 18.37kg). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.1347E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 37.1347E_negB_bw_IMLS.jpg)

Stela with Sculptor’s “Signature”, ca. 1836–1759 B.C.E. Limestone, 20 1/4 x 12 3/16 x 3 7/16 in., 40.5 lb. (51.5 x 31 x 8.8 cm, 18.37kg). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.1347E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 37.1347E_negB_bw_IMLS.jpg)

<em>Stela with Sculptor’s “Signature”</em>, ca. 1836–1759 B.C.E. Limestone, 20 1/4 x 12 3/16 x 3 7/16 in., 40.5 lb. (51.5 x 31 x 8.8 cm, 18.37kg). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.1347E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.37.1347E_erg2.jpg)

Stela with Sculptor’s “Signature”, ca. 1836–1759 B.C.E. Limestone, 20 1/4 x 12 3/16 x 3 7/16 in., 40.5 lb. (51.5 x 31 x 8.8 cm, 18.37kg). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.1347E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.37.1347E_erg2.jpg)

<em>Stela with Sculptor’s “Signature”</em>, ca. 1836–1759 B.C.E. Limestone, 20 1/4 x 12 3/16 x 3 7/16 in., 40.5 lb. (51.5 x 31 x 8.8 cm, 18.37kg). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.1347E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.37.1347E_mummychamber.jpg)

Stela with Sculptor’s “Signature”, ca. 1836–1759 B.C.E. Limestone, 20 1/4 x 12 3/16 x 3 7/16 in., 40.5 lb. (51.5 x 31 x 8.8 cm, 18.37kg). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.1347E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.37.1347E_mummychamber.jpg)

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Stela with Sculptor’s “Signature”

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

On View: Funerary Gallery 2, Martha A. and Robert S. Rubin Gallery, 3rd Floor
Unlike nearly every other work of ancient Egyptian art, this stela is signed by the artist. The deeply cut inscription beneath the lower register names “the sculptor Nefertem.” He was probably allowed to add his name as compensation for his work, thus perpetuating his memory for eternity.
MEDIUM Limestone
  • Reportedly From: Saqqara, Egypt
    • DATES ca. 1836–1759 B.C.E.
    DYNASTY late Dynasty 12
    PERIOD Middle Kingdom
    DIMENSIONS 20 1/4 x 12 3/16 x 3 7/16 in., 40.5 lb. (51.5 x 31 x 8.8 cm, 18.37kg)  (show scale)
    COLLECTIONS Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art
    ACCESSION NUMBER 37.1347E
    CREDIT LINE Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
    CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Rectangular funerary stela. At the top is a cavetto cornice: at the top and sides are heavy rounded moldings which frame a field decorated with two registers of figures accompanied by inscriptions. In the top register are shown the owner of the stela, a man named Henu, and his son Ptah-wenef facing each other across a table of offerings. In the second register two female relatives Ty-neter-ny and Neferu are also shown facing each other across a table. Below this register, in the relatively large empty space between the second register and the bottom of the stela, is inscribed. Condition: Irregular sawing; some chips in edges. Surface dirty.
    EXHIBITIONS
    MUSEUM LOCATION This item is on view in Funerary Gallery 2, Martha A. and Robert S. Rubin Gallery, 3rd Floor
    CAPTION Stela with Sculptor’s “Signature”, ca. 1836–1759 B.C.E. Limestone, 20 1/4 x 12 3/16 x 3 7/16 in., 40.5 lb. (51.5 x 31 x 8.8 cm, 18.37kg). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.1347E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 37.1347E_view1_PS9.jpg)
    IMAGE overall, 37.1347E_view1_PS9.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2015
    "CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
    RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
    You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
    RECORD COMPLETENESS
    Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.
    <em>Stela with Sculptor’s “Signature”</em>, ca. 1836–1759 B.C.E. Limestone, 20 1/4 x 12 3/16 x 3 7/16 in., 40.5 lb. (51.5 x 31 x 8.8 cm, 18.37kg). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.1347E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 37.1347E_view1_PS9.jpg)

    TAGS

    stela
    eating
    cavetto cornice
    limestone
    sculpture
    texts
    torus moulding
    signed by artist
    egypt
    egyptian
    deeply cut
    incriptions
    register
    Nefertem
    the sculptor Nefertem
    eternity
    Dynasty 12
    1836-1759 B.C.E.
    Middle Kingdom
    funerary
    Heku
    rectangular
    rounded moulding
    seated figures
    hieroglyphics
    Inscribed
    ritual
    ceremonial

    TAGS

    stela
    eating
    cavetto cornice
    limestone
    sculpture
    texts
    torus moulding
    signed by artist
    egypt
    egyptian
    deeply cut
    incriptions
    register
    Nefertem
    the sculptor Nefertem
    eternity
    Dynasty 12
    1836-1759 B.C.E.
    Middle Kingdom
    funerary
    Heku
    rectangular
    rounded moulding
    seated figures
    hieroglyphics
    Inscribed
    ritual
    ceremonial

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