Ptolemaic Period, 332-30 BC. A turquoise and blue glazed composition shabti with crossed hands holding agricultural tools, seed-bag to the left shoulder; mounted on a custom-made stand. 132 grams total, 12cm including stand (4 3/4"). Property of a Florida, USA, gentleman; acquired from an old New Jersey collection; formerly with an old English collection in the 1970s; accompanied by an old dealer's ticket. Shabtis (or Ushabtis) were the small figures of servants and supervisors which were placed in the graves of notable Egyptians, in order to ease the deceased's passage to the Otherworld. They were a major component of Egyptian funeral rituals. They carried tools in each hand and a sack on their back so they could do the work in the afterlife that the deceased would otherwise have to do.