Egyptian Blue Glazed Faience Bastet-ir-dis Shabti Fragment Group. Late-Early Ptolemaic Period, c.6th-3rd century B.C. A group of light blue composition shabti fragments comprising three upper bodies, each mummified human figure wearing a tri-partite wig and false beard, holding a pick and hoe in crossed arms, semi-naturalistic detailing to the faces, the figure also has a rudimentary back pillar, perhaps it is because of the lack of distinction between the top of the pillar (usually the pillar alone bears the inscription) and base of the wig that the hieroglyphic inscription for the female owner Bastet-ir-dis has been extended over both. 40 grams total, 42-48 mm high (1 1/2 - 1 3/4 in.) North London gentleman, in storage since the 1970s. Property of a West London gentleman. Accompanied by a specialist report written by Egyptologist Paul Whelan. The inscription includes the name of the female owner Bastet-ir-dis (which can be translated as 'it was Bastet who gave it' i.e. the lady was the gift of the goddess Bastet), highlights the popularity of this feline deity during the Late Period and Ptolemaic/Roman times. Bastet was a protector of the sun god Re as well as being associated with motherhood and fertility. Bastet-ir-dis's name is preceded by 'the Osiris', a common appellation in shabti inscriptions of this and earlier periods, which associates the deceased with the preeminent ancient Egyptian god of the Underworld. The name is followed by the epithet 'true of voice' or 'justified', an attestation of the deceased's good character as judged by a divine tribunal that decided whether a person could enter the eternal Hereafter. Then follows the phrase 'born to' which would have been accompanied by the name of Bastet-ir-dis's mother on the now missing portion of these figures. [3, No Reserve]