An Egyptian alabaster trussed duck

An Egyptian alabaster trussed duck
Old Kingdom, 6th Dynasty, circa 2300-2181 B.C.
The neck curled back over the top of the body, the head with recessed eyes, the wings folded on either side of the ovoid body, 12.5cm long

Provenance:
Private collection, France.
French art market.
Anonymous sale; Bonhams, London, 29 April 2009, lot 58.
London art market.
Private collection, UK, 2013-2017.

Models of food, such as the above trussed duck, were placed into tombs and would have ensured sustenance for the deceased. A small group of similar 6th Dynasty trussed alabaster ducks found in the necropolis of Dara is now in the Louvre, Paris, acc. nos. E17239 and E25189-E25192. The tradition of trussed duck food offerings continued into the New Kingdom Period. An anhydrite perfume bottle of the late Second Intermediate Period was thought to have simultaneously served as a tomb offering: it is carved in the form of two trussed ducks with inlaid eyes, with elegantly curving necks that echo the earlier traditional form of the above lot, Metropolitan Museum, New York, acc. no. 27.9.1. See also a hollow alabaster trussed duck in the Brooklyn Museum dated to the New Kingdom, acc. no. 11.667, that would have ensured the provision of this delicacy for its noble deceased recipient.