page_title: Northampton Sekhemka statue
section_title: Description
hierarchical_section_title: Northampton Sekhemka statue / Description
caption_attribution_description: English: Statue of Sekhemka on display in Northampton Museum and Art Gallery 1950s
context_page_description: 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 Arts Council England, which ruled that the sale did not meet the accredited standards for museums in managing their collections.
context_section_description: 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.
caption: Statue of Sekhemka on display in Northampton Museum and Art Gallery 1950s
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