Shabty of Sati
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Object Label
A taste for richly decorated objects developed during the time of Amunhotep III, both in statuary and in the personal arts such as pottery and jewelry. This funerary figure, or shawabti, is decorated vividly with paste inlays in six different colors, conveying a sense of opulence and excess not found in shawabtis from any other reign. Despite the costliness of such a piece, its owner, a woman named Sati, was neither royalty nor a high-ranking official; her title simply means "mistress of the house."
Caption
Shabty of Sati, ca. 1390–1352 B.C.E.. Faience, Height 9 13/16 in. (25 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.123E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 37.123E_SL1.jpg)
Title
Shabty of Sati
Date
ca. 1390–1352 B.C.E.
Dynasty
Dynasty 18
Period
New Kingdom
Geography
Reportedly from: Saqqara, Egypt
Medium
Faience
Classification
Dimensions
Height 9 13/16 in. (25 cm)
Credit Line
Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
Accession Number
37.123E
Rights
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.
Frequent Art Questions
What tools were used to create this piece?
The primary tools would have been a mold and fire. This shabty is made of a material called faience. Faience is a quartz-based paste that was molded and fired at high temperature, similar to a ceramic. Each of the colors had to applied separately; this was an unusual and costly method of shabty production.What purpose did this object serve?
Shabties were part of the funerary equipment in ancient Egypt. In ancient Egyptian religious beliefs, the afterlife was very similar to the current life, which meant that the tasks that need to happen here would continue in the afterlife. Shabties were made to help the deceased with work in the afterlife. We can tell that this shabty belonged to a wealthy person because it's large and beautifully decorated.What is a shabty and what does it have to do with a tomb?
The word Shabty refers to a funerary figurine like this one. The word comes from the ancient Egyptian term for “the one who replies.” Shabties would be placed in tomb and were believed to come to life and perform tasks on behalf of the deceased in the afterlife.Did the image on the shabty vary based on who's tomb it was placed inside?
A little. They were fairly standardized (we have several more on view throughout the Egyptian galleries). The way that a shabty was individualized was through the inscription. Ancient Egyptians believed in the power of writing. By placing an inscription naming a person on a work, it would become a portrait/image of that person.The main ways in which shabties varied was in the quality and fashion. Wealthy individuals could afford higher quality, larger, and more individualized ones. Middle class individuals could buy simple mold-made, mass produced shabties. Changing trends in wigs and headdresses also manifest in shabty design.
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