AN EGYPTIAN LIMESTONE FIGURE OF A STRIDING KING
Ptolemaic Period, circa 3rd century B.C.
The fragment depicts the torso and upper legs of a striding king, perhaps a sculptors' model, with his arms held close to his body with his hands clenched at his thighs and his left leg advanced, wearing a royal shendyt kilt with pendant central panel and belt, the naked torso with raised nipples, the flat-topped dorsal column with a single incised grid line is uninscribed, as well as the royal shendyt kilt, the figure also demonstrates the tripartite modelling of the torso typical of royal sculpture from circa 700 BC onwards, whereby the chest, rib cage, and abdomen are made subtly distinct, 15.2 cm high, 
Literature: For a comparable but unfinished limestone model of a striding king, see Rhode Island School of Design Museum, inv. no. 2014.2; and for a granodiorite bust of Nectanebo I demonstrating tripartite modelling and also wearing the shendyt kilt, see British Museum, acc. no. EA1013.
Provenance: Private collection (L.O.) USA, acquired late 1980s; Private collection London, acquired 2002,
Footnotes: Numerous sculptors' 'models' such as this are known from the Late and Ptolemaic periods. They are typically small in size and made from limestone, although a few are in wood, plaster, and hard stone; often they are left unfinished, often at various intermediate stages of being worked, sometimes with grid lines still visible. As well as providing templates for craftsmen to follow, it is possible that these 'models' may also represent practice pieces or demonstration models used to train new craftsmen, providing fascinating insight into workshop practice.