Egyptian Alabaster Canopic Jar with the name Horiraâ

This jar has an immediate presence. It is one of the finest and largest canopic jars remaining in private hands.
Carved from a beautiful block of Egyptian alabaster, the vessel glows with a warm honey tone. The natural veins of the stone flow gently across the surface, creating a subtle decorative effect that the sculptor carefully embraced. The body is elegant and perfectly balanced, gently tapering toward the base, with a smooth, highly polished surface that gives the stone a quiet luminosity.

The extraordinary quality of the carving is immediately apparent. The proportions are harmonious, the transitions between surfaces are soft and controlled, and every detail feels deliberate. The hieroglyphs are deeply and crisply incised, executed with clarity and confidence by a highly skilled hand.

The lid is carved in the form of a baboon’s head, representing Hapi, the divine guardian associated with the lungs. The modeling is refined and dignified, with rounded volumes and a calm, watchful expression.
On the front, six vertical columns of hieroglyphs include the name of the owner, Horiraâ, and invoke divine protection. The text reads:
“Words spoken by Hapi:
I protect your lungs, O Osiris Horiraâ.
I place them under my protection for you.
May you live forever.”

Rather than telling a story, the inscription serves as a blessing, ensuring eternal guardianship.
The jar comes from an old French collection formed in the 1970s, and the alabaster still retains the gentle coloration associated with long established collections. A special export license from the French government, a passport, was issued on May 14, 2012 under reference number 137042.

Created some 2,600 years ago, it was intended not merely as an exquisitely carved container, but as a guardian protecting its owner on the journey to eternal life.

Surface weathered, abraded in places; a few chips.

Ex- French private collection, prior to 1978.

The San Francisco Fall Show, Fort Mason, San Francisco California, 12-16 October 2022, no. 3

ARNOLD D., An Egyptian Bestiary, New York, 1995, p. 60, nos. 82-83.
BOTTI G. – ROMANELLI P., Le sculture del Museo Gregoriano egizio, Città del Vaticano, 1961, pl. 45-49.
PAGE-GASSER M., WIESE A.B., Egypte, Moments d’éternité, Art égyptien dans les collections privées, Suisse, Basel, Geneva, Mainz on Rhine, 1997, pp. 249-250, no. 164.
WILKINSON R.H., The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt, London, 2003, pp. 88-89.