LONDON.- Christie’s Classic Week Exceptional Sale on 7 July 2022 will present an Egyptian Limestone Group Statue for Mehernefer and his Son, dated to the Old Kingdom, mid-late 5th Dynasty, circa 2400-2300 B.C (estimate on request). The provenance of this remarkable statue dates back to the 18th century, when it was first presented to King George III as a gift from the Ambassador in Constantinople, Sir James Porter, during his appointment which lasted from 1746 to 1761. King George III subsequently donated the statue to Thomas Worsley (1797-1885) at Hovingham Hall, where it has remained ever since. The work has been extensively documented in the Hovingham Hall archives since 1778. The statue will be on view at Christie’s King Street from 2 to 7 July 2022.

Claudio Corsi, Specialist, Head of Sale Antiquities: “Christie’s is honoured to present this extraordinary Egyptian limestone sculpture for Mehernefer and his Son, one of the earliest works of the period to arrive in England in the 18th century. With centuries of impeccable provenance and having been gifted by King George III, this masterfully rendered statue reflects the style of 5th Dynasty royal portraiture from Memphite workshops, set by Pharaohs Userkaf and later Neferefre, which established the principals for subsequent generations of Egyptian art.”

Among the earliest works of the Old Kingdom to highlight an English collection, the sculpture was presented prior to 1762 to King George III as a gift from Sir James Porter, ambassador to the Sublime Porte of the Ottoman Empire in what was then Constantinople. George had acceded to the throne in 1760 after the death of his grandfather George II, as his father, the Prince of Wales had predeceased him. As King, George III was keen to support the arts and was patron of several prominent artists of the day including Thomas Gainsborough, Johann Zoffany and Benjamin West. In 1768, thanks to King George’s patronage, the Royal Academy of Arts was established – even giving this new society the use of one of his palaces – Somerset House. It has also been suggested that the famous Michelangelo and Raphael drawings came into the Royal Collection thanks to George III.

Thomas Worsley began his career as equerry-in-ordinary to George II from 1742-1760. In 1760, thanks to his old school friend the Third Earl of Bute, who was then Prime Minister, he was appointed Surveyor-General of the Office of Works, a post he held until 1778. In this role he became close to George III, who was a like-minded keen horseman and architectural enthusiast. In 1762 the monarch gifted him Giambologna's sculptural group Samson and the Philistine, now in the Victoria and Albert Museum. In this light it is perhaps no surprise that George III also gifted Worsley this statue.

This Old Kingdom sculpture group and a related statue were described in Thomas Worsley’s 1778 catalogue of works of art at Hovingham Hall as ‘Two Egyptian idols Isis & Osiris brought by Sir James Porter from Constantinople & given by him to King George III who gave them to me’. Displayed since the 18th century alongside Giambologna’s Samson and a Philistine, as well as ancient busts and plaster casts, the statues were acquired at a period prior to the decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphs, and before the iconographic traits of Egyptian art were well understood. A modern reappraisal in the 1960s by Egyptologists Cyril Aldred and I. E. S. Edwards (among others) allowed the correct interpretation of the two groups.

Magnificently carved from a single block of limestone, this statue group depicts a seated man in classic Old Kingdom style alongside a standing image of his young son. Egyptian artistic convention emphasises the higher status of the seated figure in a group, whose powerful physique is underscored by the presence of his son shown leaning on his father. The boy is represented holding the index finger of his right hand to his mouth in the standard Egyptian gesture of youth, and affectionately rests his bent left arm behind his father’s back, with his hand resting on his shoulder. Traces of inscription on the right side of the base of the group statue reveal that the seated man was probably called Meher-nefer, the same name also given to his son, as indicated in the well-preserved inscription to the left of the small boy’s feet. The inscription accompanying the boy identifies him as the God’s Servant/Prophet of Wadjet and King’s Agent in Nubia, Meher-nefer. The title of King’s Agent in Nubia was associated with a series of important individuals during the later Old Kingdom involved in the administration of southernmost Egypt and Nubia.

The original findspot of the statue group is not known, but was likely discovered in an enclosed serdab chamber within a mastaba tomb at either Giza or Saqqara.