Standing Statuettes of Tjetety
Standing Statuette of Tjetety
Egypt (Saqqara, near pyramid of King Teti, Old Kingdom, Dynasty 6, 2323-2150 B.C.E.
Wood, Height: 52 cm (20 1/2 in.)
Gift of Service des Antiquités d'Égypte 1924, MFA #24.607
Photos © Joan Ann Lansberry

Standing Statue of Tjetety
Egypt (Saqqara, near pyramid of King Teti, Old Kingdom, Dynasty 6, 2323-2150 B.C.E.
Wood, Height: 40 cm (15 3/4 in.)
Gift of Service des Antiquités d'Égypte 1924, MFA #24.608
Photos © Joan Ann Lansberry

"In the early 1920s, British Egyptologist Cecil M. Firth excavated the pyramid complex of King Teti (2323-2291 BCE) at Saqqara, just south of Cairo. In the adjacent cemetery, he uncovered the tomb of a granary official named Tjetety. Inside were 20 wooden statuettes and one of stone -- among the largest groups of sculpture found in any Dynasty 6 tomb. The Museum acquired the stone statuette and three wooden ones from the Egyptian government. Two wooden statuettes are shown here, and the stone one is on the left. The statuettes assume three different poses. Most interesting is the figure of Tjetety striding, holding the pleat of his long skirt with his right hand while clenching his left."

"The disproportionately large heads that taper to narrow jaws, the large eyes, smiling faces, folds of flesh around the nostrils, short torsos, and underdeveloped limbs are typical of late Old Kingdom sculpture." (From info cards)