Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Statue of the Steward Meri Seated
Middle Kingdom
Not on view
This object is not part of The Met collection. It was in the Museum for a special exhibition and has been returned to the lender.
This statue is a three-dimensional example of the style known from reliefs of the early reign of Mentuhotep II, with a short upper body, high waist, long legs, and almond-shaped eyes with flaring cosmetic lines. Based on their similarity to a hieroglyph for “assemble,” the crossed arms may have a funerary meaning, perhaps expressing the confidence that Meri’s body would be made whole again and thus ready for eternal life. The statue likely originates from a tomb in western Thebes.
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