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Standing female
Egyptian
Predynastic Period, Early Naqada 2
3700 B.C - 3450 B.C
Medium/Technique
Bone
Dimensions
Length x widthx height: 10.2 × 1.9 × 0.6 cm (4 × 3/4 × 1/4 in.)
Credit Line
Walter and Celia Gilbert Acquisition Fund for Ancient Egyptian Art
Accession Number2019.633
NOT ON VIEW
ClassificationsSculpture
ProvenanceMay 28, 1883, sale, Sotheby’s, London, lot 119, sold for £0.13 to Lt.-General Augustus Henry Pitt-Rivers (b. 1827 - d. 1900), Farnham, Dorset, England [see note 1]; transferred to the Pitt-Rivers Museum, Farnham (GR 595; Room 7, case 79); 1966, Pitt-Rivers Museum closed and collection passed by descent to Stella Howson-Clive (Pitt-Rivers); consigned for sale to Kenelm Digby-Jones (dealer; d. 2011), London [see note 2]; December 12, 1990, Pitt-Rivers Museum (Digby-Jones) and others sale, Christie’s, London, lot 229, sold to Merrin Gallery, New York; 1991, sold by Merrin to a private American collection; 2018, sold by this private American collection to Colnaghi, New York; 2019, sold by Colnaghi to the MFA. (Accession Date: June 19, 2019)
NOTES: [1] Augustus Pitt-Rivers established a privately-owned museum in Dorset in 1880, where he housed acquisitions he made between 1880 and 1900. He kept several notebooks recording the collection, now held by Cambridge University. This figure was part of a lot of 27 “various ivory objects.” Pitt-Rivers notebooks, vol. 1, p. 226, no. 9; see the website Rethinking Pitt Rivers (pittweb.prm.ox.ac.uk). According to information on this site, this was the sale of Luigi Palma di Cesnola (b. 1832 – d. 1904) and/or his brother, Alessandro Palma di Cesnola (b. 1839 – d. 1914). It is also possible that Alessandro’s father in law, Edwin Henry Lawrence (b. 1819 – d. 1891), owned objects in this sale.
[2] The collection of the Pitt-Rivers museum passed by descent to Augustus Pitt-Rivers’s son, Alexander Lane-Fox Pitt-Rivers (b. 1855 – d. 1927); then to his son, George Henry Lane-Fox Pitt-Rivers (b. 1890- d. 1966) and his common law wife, Stella Howson-Clive Pitt-Rivers. The museum closed in 1966 and portions of the collection were sold. Kenelm Digby-Jones was an advisor in this process.
NOTES: [1] Augustus Pitt-Rivers established a privately-owned museum in Dorset in 1880, where he housed acquisitions he made between 1880 and 1900. He kept several notebooks recording the collection, now held by Cambridge University. This figure was part of a lot of 27 “various ivory objects.” Pitt-Rivers notebooks, vol. 1, p. 226, no. 9; see the website Rethinking Pitt Rivers (pittweb.prm.ox.ac.uk). According to information on this site, this was the sale of Luigi Palma di Cesnola (b. 1832 – d. 1904) and/or his brother, Alessandro Palma di Cesnola (b. 1839 – d. 1914). It is also possible that Alessandro’s father in law, Edwin Henry Lawrence (b. 1819 – d. 1891), owned objects in this sale.
[2] The collection of the Pitt-Rivers museum passed by descent to Augustus Pitt-Rivers’s son, Alexander Lane-Fox Pitt-Rivers (b. 1855 – d. 1927); then to his son, George Henry Lane-Fox Pitt-Rivers (b. 1890- d. 1966) and his common law wife, Stella Howson-Clive Pitt-Rivers. The museum closed in 1966 and portions of the collection were sold. Kenelm Digby-Jones was an advisor in this process.