Skip Navigation

Statue of Hori Represented as a Scribe

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

Fashioned much like a funerary figurine, or shabti, this statuette of a man named Hori features the fastidious braided wig and the loose, flowing, tightly pleated garments found in sculpture of late Dynasty XVIII and especially Dynasty XIX. In his right hand Hori holds a scribal palette, and in his left he clutches either a papyrus roll or a short, stout staff. Interestingly, although the inscription is damaged, enough survives to indicate that Hori was not a scribe.

MEDIUM Faience
  • Possible Place Made: Thebes, Egypt
  • DATES ca. 1295–1185 B.C.E.
    DYNASTY Dynasty 19
    PERIOD New Kingdom
    DIMENSIONS 5 1/4 x 2 5/8 x 1 3/16 in. (13.3 x 6.6 x 3 cm) mount (dimensions as installed): 9 × 2 3/4 × 1 5/8 in. (22.9 × 7 × 4.1 cm)  (show scale)
    ACCESSION NUMBER 37.257E
    CREDIT LINE Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
    CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Small glazed faience statue of the “Administrator of the House of Amun” names Hori. The figure is glazed white with details given in black. Hori stands (the figure is not preserved from just below the knees down) wearing a long double wig (glazed black), an elaborate tunic with pleated sleeves, and a pleated skirt with stiff triangular apron. Down the front of the apron is a column of text. He holds at his waist, in his left hand, a papyrus roll. He holds a scribes writing equipment against his apron in his right hand. Brows and eyes are glazed black. The brows dip slightly at the root of the nose, and the eyes are long. Condition: Lower part of legs and feet missing; tan incrustation in hollows of pleats and on much of the body.
    MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
    CAPTION Statue of Hori Represented as a Scribe, ca. 1295–1185 B.C.E. Faience, 5 1/4 x 2 5/8 x 1 3/16 in. (13.3 x 6.6 x 3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.257E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 37.257E_37.148E_GRPA_glass_bw_SL4.jpg)
    IMAGE overall, 37.257E_37.148E_GRPA_glass_bw_SL4.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
    "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.