An Egyptian limestone statue of Sekhemankhptah Old Kingdom, 5th Dynasty, circa 2389-2255 B.C.Statue: 121cm high x 51cm wide x 40cm deep; plinth: 91cm x 71cm x 61cmFootnotes:Provenance:Tomb G7152 at Giza, excavated by George A. Reisner and the Harvard University-Boston Museum of Fine Arts Expedition, during the digging season of 1926-1927.This statue is referenced in Reisner's diary entry of 29 January 1927 (vol. 20, p. 667): 'uncovered the two seated statues at door of G 7152, and a broken standing statue at north side of door, fallen in several pieces'.Vincent (1886-1967) and Olga (1906-2000) Diniacopoulos collection, Canada, acquired from the Khawam Brothers, Cairo and likely brought to Canada in 1951.Property from a Canadian Private Collection, a portion of the proceeds intended for the benefit of Concordia University, Montreal; Sotheby's, New York, 5 June 1999, lot 25.Private collection, New York, acquired at the above sale, until 2018.Published: La Presse, Montreal, 15 May 1954 (illus.).V. and O. Diniacopoulos, Collection Monsieur et Madame D., Vincent et Fils, Valleyfield, 1954, p. 5, no. 6.R. Belle-Isle, Exposition d'art antique, Chambly, Quebec, 1965, p.5.J.E. Francis and G.W.M. Harrison, Life and Death in Ancient Egypt, The Diniacopoulos Collection, Montreal, 2004, p.59, fig. 5.6.J.M. Fossey and J.E. Francis, The Diniacopoulos Collection in Quebec: Greek and Roman Antiquities, Montreal, 2004, p. 22, fig. 1.4 for a photograph of Vincent and Olga unboxing pieces including Sekhemankhptah at the Séminaire de Valleyfield in 1955.Exhibited: Séminaire de Valleyfield, Quebec, Diniacopoulos Collection, from 1954. Ecole Gérard Filion, Chambly, Exposition d'art antique, 1965.The tomb of Sekhemankhptah is dicussed in the following publications:G.A. Reisner, A History of the Giza Necropolis I, Cambridge, 1942, pp. 210, 312. W.H. Smith, A History of Egyptian Sculpture and Painting in the Old Kingdom, London, 1946, p.200 (recording the decoration of the interior of the offering-room of the tomb: 'The east wall retains a fragment of an agricultural scene, and the north wall is decorated with scenes showing the care of cattle. The west wall has a presentation of animals').B. Porter & R.L.B. Moss, Topographical Bibliography of Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic Texts, Reliefs, and Paintings 3: Memphis, 1974, p. 191.A. Bedawy, The Tombs of Iteti, Sekhem'ankh-Ptah and Kaemnofret at Giza, Berkeley, 1976, pp.15-24, figs. 18-24, pls. 14-23, including detailed description of the decoration of the tomb and drawings of such. Sekhemankhptah's titles are listed on p.22.N. Strudwick, The Administration of Egypt in the Old Kingdom: The Highest Titles and Their Holders, London, 1985, pp.134-5. V.G. Callender, 'A Contribution to the Burial of Women in the Old Kingdom', in F. Coppens (ed.), Abusir and Saqqara in the year 2001. Proceedings of the Symposium, Prague, September 2001, Archiv Orientálni 70, no. 3, 2002, p. 303, no. 15.Sekhemankhptah was a highly important Egyptian official during the 5th Dynasty of the Old Kingdom. His mastaba tomb is located southeast of Khufu's pyramid in Giza, one of 'the most important necropolises for Egyptian royalty and the upper echelons of officialdom during the Old Kingdom' (P. Der Manuelian, 'Excavating the Old Kingdom, the Giza Necropolis and Other Mastaba Fields', in Egyptian Art in the Age of the Pyramids, New York, 1999, p. 139). It was excavated in 1926 by George Reisner, and the hieroglyphic texts on the interior demonstrate the pre-eminent role Sekhemankhptah played in the royal court. Sekhemankhptah is named as 'Count; Sole companion of Pharaoh; Chief judge, vizier; Staff of the people; Mouth of all the people of Pe; Royal chamberlain; Privy to the secret; Overseer of the scribes of the documents of the king; Scribe of the documents of the king; Overseer of all the works of the king; Overseer of the embalming house of Pharaoh; Overseer of the embalming house'. These titles suggest that Sekhemankhptah was second only to the king himself. His wife, Bwnefer, is named as 'Real royal daughter', suggesting she was the daughter of a Pharaoh (Reisner refers to Sekhemankptah as 'husband of a princess'). They had two children, a son named Seshemnefer and a daughter named Meritites.The extraordinary, monumental, size of this statue, highly unusual for a non-royal sculpture, is further testament to Sekhemankhptah's high status. It is also an exceedingly rare example of an unfinished Old Kingdom sculpture of a non-royal personage, which offers a fascinating insight to the technique and skill of the earliest sculptors of Pharaonic Egypt. Sekhemankhptah retains original chisel marks, and the carving of the wig and kilt are clearly unfinished. The surface has also not been polished to the typical degree. It has been suggested that the figure was coated in plaster, with the finer details rendered in paint, though it seems more likely that the statue was placed in front of the tomb prior to being finished (as no traces of plaster or pigment remain). The group of statuettes of King Menkaura of the 4th Dynasty at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (acc. no. 11.732), each in varying degrees of completion, further elucidate how these figures were finished after being installed in their final locations. Artists began by hammering out the approximate shape of the statue from a large block of stone, before refining details of the head and limbs with chisels in a series of stages of increasing refinement. After this carving and refining, rubbing stones and powdered abrasive were used to polish the surface, before an inscription was added to identify the owner. These last stages had not been completed before work on this statue of Sekhemankhptah seems to have ceased.The Diniacopoulos Collection of Ancient ArtVincent and Olga Diniacopoulos amassed one of the largest and most impressive private collections of antiquities in Canada during the 20th Century, of almost unparalleled breadth and quality. Vincent Diniacopoulos (1886-1967) was born in Constantinople to a Greek family, and was enamoured by the ancient world from childhood. From the 1920s he was participating in archaeological digs across the Middle East and undertaking art restoration, living between Paris and Cairo. His wife Hélène Olga Nicholas (1906-2000), was also Greek, and was born in Cairo. After moving to Paris in 1923 she studied archaeology at the Louvre and Sorbonne and met and married Vincent. In the late 1920s and 1930s the couple travelled extensively throughout the Middle East and Egypt, building their collection of antiquities as well as acquiring objects for major institutions including the British Museum, Louvre and Metropolitan Museum. During these formative years, they built up an extensive collection including ancient Egyptian, Babylonian, Assyrian, Hittite, Cypriot, Greek and Roman objects, ranging from sculpture and coins to ceramics, glassware and bronzes.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
