Middle Kingdom, Dynasty 12, reign of Senwosret I
Findspot: Nubia (Sudan), Kerma, Tumulus K III, hall A
Framed
(The object sits on epoxy bed /structural steel pallet tubing): 21.6 x
62.2 x 116.2 cm (8 1/2 x 24 1/2 x 45 3/4 in.) Mount (Steel channel base
with cross bracing 3" x 3/16"): 30.5 x 62.2 x 116.2 cm (12 x 24 1/2 x 45
3/4 in.) Overall (steel pallet and object, weighed): 170.2 x 116.2 x 47
cm, 1224.71 kg (67 x 45 3/4 x 18 1/2 in., 2700 lb.) Weight (Object and
steel pallet with attaching steel base, estimate): 1319.97 kg (2910 lb.)
Weight (Object (calculated by subtracting estimate of pallet weight)):
1079.56 kg (2380 lb.)
http://www.mfa.org/collections/object/statue-of-lady-sennuwy-141967
Egyptian
officials of the Middle Kingdom continued the practice of equipping
their tombs with statues to house the ka of the tomb owner and to
provide a focal point for the offering cult. Highly ranked officials
also dedicated statues of themselves at sanctuaries of gods and deified
ancestors. Following the experimental and idiosyncratic interlude of the
First Intermediate Period, sculptors once again produced large-scale
stone statues, returning to the basic forms and poses established in the
Old Kingdom.
This
elegant seated statue of Lady Sennuwy of Asyut is one of the most
superbly carved and beautifully proportioned sculptures from the Middle
Kingdom. The unknown artist shaped and polished the hard, gray
granodiorite with extraordinary skill, suggesting that he was trained in
a royal workshop. He has portrayed Sennuwy as a slender, graceful young
woman, dressed in the tightly fitting sheath dress that was fashionable
at the time. The carefully modeled planes of the face, framed by a
long, thick, striated wig, convey a serene confidence and timeless
beauty. Such idealized, youthful, and placid images characterize the
first half of Dynasty 12 and hark back to the art of the Old Kingdom.
Sennuwy sits poised and attentive on a solid, blocklike chair, with her
left hand resting flat on her lap and her right hand holding a lotus
blossom, a symbol of rebirth. Inscribed on the sides and base of the
chair are hieroglyphic texts declaring that she is venerated in the
presence of Osiris and other deities associated with the afterlife.
Sennuwy
was the wife of a powerful provincial governor, Djefaihapi of Asyut,
whose rock-cut tomb is the largest nonroyal tomb of the Middle Kingdom.
Clearly, the couple had access to the finest artists and materials
available. It is likely that this statue, along with a similar sculpture
of Djefaihapi, was originally set up in the tomb chapel, although they
may also have stood in a sanctuary. Both statues were discovered,
however, far to the south at Kerma in Nubia, where they had been buried
in the royal tumulus of a Nubian king who lived generations after
Sennuwy’s death. They must have been removed from their original
location and exported to Nubia some three hundred years after they were
made. Exactly how, why, and when these pieces of sculpture, along with
numerous other Egyptian statues, found their way to Kerma, however, is
still unknown.
From
Nubia (Sudan), Kerma, K III hall A. 1913: Excavated by the Harvard
University-Boston Museum of Fine Arts Expedition; assigned to the MFA by
the government of the Sudan. (Accession Date: July 2, 1914)
