<em>Seated Statuette of Sekhemka</em>, ca. 2400-2345 B.C.E. Anorthosite gneiss, limestone, pigment, 15 1/4 x 7 7/8 x 16 1/4 in., 56 lb. (38.7 x 20 x 41.3 cm, 25.4kg). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.23Ea-b. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 37.23E_front_PS2.jpg)

Seated Statuette of Sekhemka, ca. 2400-2345 B.C.E. Anorthosite gneiss, limestone, pigment, 15 1/4 x 7 7/8 x 16 1/4 in., 56 lb. (38.7 x 20 x 41.3 cm, 25.4kg). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.23Ea-b. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 37.23E_front_PS2.jpg)

DOWNLOAD

Seated Statuette of Sekhemka

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

This diorite statue was possibly a reused royal statue, which was provided with a limestone base painted to imitate the more expensive diorite. It also combines the base with an offering table.

The statue was repaired in antiquity, a fact deduced from the round hole (visible in the break), which was made with an ancient drill. Since this type of stone and this seated pose were nearly always limited to royal statues in the Fifth Dynasty, it is likely that Sekhemka repaired a broken and discarded royal statue. The beautifully carved limestone base illustrates the offerings, such as bread, beer, cattle, and fowl, that Sekhemka hoped for in the afterlife.

MEDIUM Anorthosite gneiss, limestone, pigment

Possible Place Made: Saqqara, Egypt

DATES ca. 2400-2345 B.C.E.

DYNASTY late Dynasty 5

PERIOD Old Kingdom

DIMENSIONS 15 1/4 x 7 7/8 x 16 1/4 in., 56 lb. (38.7 x 20 x 41.3 cm, 25.4kg) (show scale)

COLLECTIONS Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

ACCESSION NUMBER 37.23Ea-b

CREDIT LINE Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund

CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Seated statue of a man set into a limestone base. The upper surface of the base is dcorated with low relief representations of offerings and sunk relief inscriptions that give his name as Sekhemka. The base, but not the offerings, is painted black, in imitation of hard stone. The man wears a kilt and is seated in the “Chephren” pose. The top half of the statue has been sheared away diagonally. The right hand side is preserved up to the level of the shoulder. His right hand rests on his right thigh, fist clenched and pointing up, a rudimentary emblematic wand protrudes. His left hand lies flat on his left thigh-fingers are long and thin. The legs are heavy and broadly modelled. The same broad modeling is evidenced for the rest of the figure. He wears a close fitting kilt ending just above the knees. The seat is a simple cube and while the body has received some polish--this has received less. The base into which the statue fits bears two registers of offerings in relief and polychrome. A line of hieroglyphs flanks the seat on either side. Condition: The statue itself has been much damaged. The left side including the head has, as has been stated, sheared off. A large drill hole exists in this area (visible from the side). The body bears numerous pitting and some evidence of polychrome. The base is painted black except from the polychromed offering registers. Some chips have been taken in these. A chip directly in front of the statue has carried away a small portion of the upper register. Much rubbing of the black paint layer has caused thinning in some spots.

EXHIBITIONS

To Live Forever: Egyptian Treasures from the Brooklyn Museum

MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view

CAPTION Seated Statuette of Sekhemka, ca. 2400-2345 B.C.E. Anorthosite gneiss, limestone, pigment, 15 1/4 x 7 7/8 x 16 1/4 in., 56 lb. (38.7 x 20 x 41.3 cm, 25.4kg). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.23Ea-b. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 37.23E_front_PS2.jpg)

IMAGE front, 37.23E_front_PS2.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2007

"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.