Statue of Wepwawetemhat

Statue of Wepwawetemhat
Egyptian, First Intermediate to Middle Kingdom, probably l, 2140–1991 B.C.
Findspot: Asyut, Egypt
Length x width x height: 71.1 x 23.1 x 112 cm (28 x 9 1/8 x 44 1/8 in.)
Wood
Classification: Sculpture
Accession number: 04.1780

Emily Esther Sears Fund

This masterful wooden statue, made for the tomb of a minor official who lived at the end of the First Intermediate Period or early in the Middle Kingdom, represents the culmination of the style that emerged in the late Old Kingdom. A brief text on the base identifies the figure as "the venerated one, Wepwawetemhat," who is shown as a slender, idealized young man striding forward with his left foot - the traditional pose for a sculpture of an Egyptian dignitary. The head, torso, and legs were carved from a single piece of wood, while the arms and the base of the figure were made separately. The entire statue was then coated with gesso and brightly painted and the eyes were inlaid with black and white stones. The features of the face, including the slightly arched eyebrows and well-preserved eyes, impart a youthful intensity and energy. 

 

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