Model of a Sailing Boat

A middle kingdom wooden model of a sailing boat with the pilot in the bow and the owner resting under a canopy. Boats were the commonest type of funerary models placed in tombs during the Middle Kingdom. They provided the dead person with the magical means of traveling along the waterways of the Underworld.

All the standing sailors except the pilot, as well as the owner, still have the remains of the original fabric skirts. No facial features carved except noses; eyes are painted on. Arms are pegged to shoulders and cut off straight at ends; hands are not shaped.

The human figures on board have red bodies, white skirts, and short black wigs; it is noticeable that both the men working the rigging and those pushing on the quants have their legs well separated so as to get a good purchase on the deck.

The helmsman sits in the stern, left arm at 45 degree with the body, right arm straight in front to grasp the tiller, which is missing; the stump is sticking out of the hole in the shaft of the steering-oar.

In the cabin squats the figure of the owner of the boat; he has his right arm forward at an angle of about 45 degrees and his left arm slightly forward. Behind him are two round-topped travelling trunks placed one on top of the other and painted red and yellow.

All the standing sailors except the pilot, as well as the owner, still have the remains of the original fabric skirts. No facial features carved except noses; eyes are painted on. Arms are pegged to shoulders and cut off straight at ends; hands are not shaped.

Middle Kingdom, 12th Dynasty, ca. 1991-1786 BC. Now in the British Museum, London. EA41574