Pair Statue of Nebsen and Nebet-ta

Statue in glass case located at Brooklyn Museum. **Placard**: New Kingdom, Dynasty 18, reign of Thutmose IV or Amunhotep III, circa 1400-1352 B.C.E. Probably from Dahamsha Limestone, painted Charles Edwin Wilbour fund, 40.523 To express the physical and spiritual bond between two individuals, sculptors devised a form called the pair statue. The most common variety showed the subjects-a husband and wife, a mother and child, or a king and a divinity, for example--seated together on a chair or bench. The earliest documented examples date to the reign of King Djoser in the Third Dynasty (circa 2675-2625 B.C.E.). This New Kingdom pair statue represents a married couple. The inscription tells us that the man is Nesben, a scribe in the royal treasury, and the woman Nebet-ta, a singer in the temple of the goddess Isis. They each pass one arm behind the other, a symbol of closeness. In order to convey this sentiment and to create a harmonious design, the sculptor extended the arms to unnatural lengths.