Kneeling official - Met Museum Collection
Inventory Number: 51.173 New Kingdom, Ramesside, Dynasty 19–20, ca. 1250–1070 B.C. Location Information: Location Unlisted
Description:
The number of examples of nonroyal statuettes in poses and stances typical for use in burials diminishes greatly in the New Kingdom, reflecting a general shift in funerary practices away from the deposition of statuary in tombs and toward placement in temples. This figure is the earliest metal statuette of a nonroyal man that can be ascribed to a shrine or temple provenance because of its ritual worshipping pose. It is datable to the late Nineteenth or Twentieth Dynasty based on the style of the official's hair and garments as well as the style of his face, which shows no influences of the earlier Amarna period. The statuette's open core cavity, without core supports, and its long, irregularly shaped tangs (not visible when the figure is displayed) also support such a date.