Stick Wooden Shawabti second Intermediate Period

A Fine Wooden Stick Type Shawabti. A wooden Stick Type shawabti of the Second Intermediate Period prototype form. It bears very unusual traces of red ochre paint over a thin layer of gesso. An exceptionally well detailed example of the type with well defined facial features and body shape suggesting it is late 17th or even early 18th Dynasty in date. Probably Theban. Intact, H: 17.4 cm. Stick Type shawabtis / shabtis are traditionally made of Persea wood (Shawab in ancient Egyptian) and only later were they referred to as ushebtis (answerers). Stick Type shawabtis are very rare and this example is unique. Acquired from Frank Crane, Canada ca 1990 and originally on hold for the ROM. (M16) Now mounted in a modern wooden tray on a bed of ancient linen textile fragments from different periods, some of which are very fine. Cf W.M.F. Petrie, 1935. Shabtis. BSAE London. Nos 12, 16 & 20. This lot is part of a large private collection of Egyptian antiquities at auction at Lauritz.com Roskilde u