Wooden Sarcophagus of Khamhor
Wooden Sarcophagus of Khamhor
C. 664 - 525 B.C., 26th Dynasty
Wood Polychrome
H: 192cm
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A polychromed wooden sarcophagus for Khamhor, who wears a tripartite wig, shown drawn behind the ears of the figure, in a manner peculiar to coffins of this period, a false beard, which signifies his affiliation with Osiris, and two broad, elaborate usekh collars, one superimposed on the other.
The body wrapped in a pleated white linen shroud, which suggests this is the final of the coffins within the sarcophagus, and would have contained the body of Khamhor.
Inscribed around the feet with the standard offering formula, ‘An offering given by the king to Osiris, the lord of Bubastis, Khentyamentet the great god, the Lord of Abydos, that he may give an invocation offering bread, beer, oxen, birds, alabaster, clothing, and every good and pure thing upon which a god lives, for the ka of the revered Khamhor, True of Voice.’
The choice of white as the external covering is found on several other contemporary examples, all of which hail from the necropolis at Heracleopolis Magna, strongly pointing to it as the source of this coffin as well. For another similar example see a coffin now in the collection of the Gemer-Malohont Museum in Rimavska Sobota, Slovakia (cf. inv. no. 623/63).
Arts Antiques de Haute et Basse Egypte, Galerie Philippe Dodier, 1 Rue de Brémesnil, 50 Avranches, France, 1st July – 31st August 1968.
Arts Antiques de Haute et Basse Egypte, Galerie Philippe Dodier, France, 1968.
David Aaron Ltd, 2023, No. 29.
With Galerie Philippe Dodier (1 Rue de Brémesnil, 50 Avranches, France) from at least 1968 (accompanied by an advertisement showing this sarcophagus as well as photographs from 1968). The sarcophagus was viewed by Egyptologist Jacques Jean Clère when with Dodier and included in his archive, dated 1968.
Private Collection, Rennes, France, acquired from the above in May 1968.
Paris art market, acquired from the above (accompanied by French cultural passport 165038).
Private Collection, USA, acquired from the above 20th April 2021.
ALR: S00223168, with IADAA certificate, this item has been searched against the Interpol database
Philippe Dodier (1933-2015) opened his eponymous gallery in Avranches, Normandy, in 1961. He was close friends with fellow dealer Jean Roudillon and with Egyptologist Jacques Jean Clère (1906-1989), who viewed this sarcophagus in 1968 and included it in his archive.
