Northampton Sekhemka statue

The Northampton Sekhemka statue is an Ancient Egyptian artefact, given by the Marquess of Northampton to Northampton Museum, in or about 1870. The statue dates from the 5th dynasty and depicts Sekhemka the scribe with his wife, Sitmerit. It was the subject of a controversial sale in July 2014, that raised questions of the museum's ownership and the ethics of selling artefacts. The statue was sold to an unidentified buyer for £15.76m, which broke the world record for Ancient Egyptian art at auction. On 1 August 2014, Northampton Museums had their accreditation removed by the Arts Council England, which ruled that the sale did not meet the accredited standards for museums in managing their collections.

The statue depicts Sekhemka sitting in a traditional scribal pose and holding on his knees a partly unrolled papyrus which lists various offerings. He is named in an inscription on the plinth of his statue as "Inspector of Scribes in the House of Largesse, one revered before the Great God". His wife Sit-Merit is shown sitting at his feet. The limestone statue is 75 centimetres (30 in) tall with the base from front to rear being 43 centimetres (17 in). Archaeologist Mike Pitts, editor of British Archaeology, took many detailed colour photographs of the statue whilst it was on display in Christie's prior to auction and has published them on his own blog.

The statue's provenance is unclear. Al-Ahram Weekly reports that one account describes the statue as being acquired by Northampton Museum in 1849 from the Ottoman sultan, while another version holds that it was acquired by the Spencer Compton, 2nd Marquess of Northampton during a trip to Egypt, after which his son offered it to Northampton Museum in the 19th century.T. G. H. James noted in 1961 that Northampton Museum held no precise information regarding the acquisition of the statue, but that it was presented to the museum around 1870 by the 3rd Marquess of Northampton and, based on a record from 1899, it is likely to have been acquired by the 2nd Marquess of Northampton during a trip to Egypt in 1850.

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