Master Sculpture from Four Millennia
Master Sculpture from Four Millennia
An Egyptian Basalt Block Statue of Pamiu (‘the Cat’), Prophet of Amun at Karnak, Late 25th Dynasty, circa 690-656 B.C.
Auction Closed
July 4, 03:04 PM GMT
Estimate
150,000 - 250,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
An Egyptian Basalt Block Statue of Pamiu (‘the Cat’), Prophet of Amun at Karnak
Late 25th Dynasty, circa 690-656 B.C.
seated with his hands emerging from his cloak, a napkin or bolt of cloth in his right hand, and wearing a short beard and wide double wig with echeloned curls in front, his powerfully carved face with full outlined lips rounded at the corners, broad cheekbones, straight nose, and wide-set eyes with contoured upper lids and eyebrows in relief, the front of his cloak carved in sunk relief with a kneeling king and an enthroned falcon-headed god flanking an offering stand, lines of inscription below, a fragment surviving on his proper right side carved with the king holding a libation spoon, the proper left side carved with columns of inscription, a fragment of inscription remaining on the back.
Height 29.5 cm.
probably from the Chapel of Monthu at North Karnak
the Egyptologist Alexandre Varille (1909-1951)
by descent to his family (Pierre Bergé & Associés, Paris, November 29th, 2014, no. 77, illus.)
acquired by the present owner at the above sale
This is one of 2 block statues carved for Pamiu, whose name translates as ‘the Cat’. The other example now in the collection of the Cairo Museum was found in 1903 in the cachette in Karnak. Pamiu bore many important titles including Prophet of Amun at Karnak and Priest in the House of Amun.
The form of Egyptian sculpture known as a block statue comprises the figure of a man seated with knees drawn up to his chest and arms folded on top of his knees, a cloak enveloping the body to create a simple block. Intended to resemble a guardian seated at the gateway of a temple, the form provided perfect surfaces for inscriptions and pictorial scenes, and by its nature was remarkably durable.
For the French Egyptologist Alexandre Varille, see Who Was Who in Egyptology, fifth revised edition by Morris L. Bierbrier, London, 2019, p. 470.