Four things settle most cases: the material and how the figure was made, the inscription, the wear, and the paper trail. An ancient faience ushabti is a quartz paste figure, usually pressed in a mould, with a glaze that has thinned or worn on the high points; its inscription is real Egyptian, usually naming an owner; and its surface shows the slow weathering of burial. If a seller cannot tell you where the figure was before it reached them and will not guarantee it in writing, treat it as a reproduction until shown otherwise.

The rest of this guide explains each point, and why ushabtis, like scarabs, are among the most copied Egyptian objects.

What a ushabti is

A ushabti (also written shabti or shawabti) is a small mummy-shaped figure placed in an Egyptian tomb to work for its owner in the afterlife. The Egyptians expected the dead to be called to farm the fields of the next world, and the ushabti answered in their place; the word is often explained as "answerer." Many carry a version of Chapter 6 of the Book of the Dead, which tells the figure to say "Here I am" when called. Ushabtis first appear in the Middle Kingdom, around 2000 BC, and were made until the Ptolemaic period. Over time a burial came to hold more and more of them, eventually one worker for each day of the year with overseers to keep them in order, which is why so many survive and why they are among the most collectable Egyptian antiquities.

Materials and how they were made

Most ushabtis on the market are faience, a ground quartz paste that forms its own glaze when fired. The color runs from pale green through turquoise to a deep blue. Faience ushabtis were pressed into open-backed moulds, so look for a front with crisp modelling and a back that is flatter or less finished, and sometimes a faint seam along the sides. Late Period figures, from the 26th Dynasty onward, typically stand on a small plinth with a back pillar, wear a tripartite wig and a braided beard, and hold a hoe and a pick with a seed bag over one shoulder. Third Intermediate Period figures, especially those from the Theban priestly burials, are often a strong blue with details and inscriptions painted in black, and are more simply made. Ushabtis were also carved in wood and stone, and modelled in terracotta.

The inscription

An inscribed ushabti names its owner, often with titles, and the text is laid out in a way that fits the period: a single column down the front, horizontal bands around the body, or a T-shaped arrangement. Many Late Period figures open with the formula "the Osiris," followed by the owner's name, because the dead were identified with that god. On a copy the signs are frequently wrong: nonsense groups, signs facing different directions, a text copied from another figure with errors, or impressed so evenly that it looks stamped rather than moulded. Painted inscriptions in hieratic, the cursive script, were done freehand and vary from figure to figure. Overseer, or reis, figures are a separate type: they wear the kilt of daily life rather than mummy wrappings and often carry a whip, and they are rarer than the workers.

Wear and surface

Ancient faience weathers in particular ways. The glaze thins on the nose, the hands and the edges of the wig, and may have flaked to show the paler core beneath. Burial leaves mineral deposits in the recesses, and salts in the paste can push to the surface as a fine white bloom. Copies are often given a uniform coat of "aged" color, mud rubbed over the whole figure, or a glaze that is suspiciously even and glassy all over. Look at the breaks, too: many ushabtis have lost their feet or have an old repair at the ankles, and the core at an ancient break is granular and weathered rather than freshly white.

Why so many copies

Ushabtis have been reproduced since visitors began buying souvenirs in Egypt in the 19th century, and faience and stone copies are still made in quantity for the tourist market. Some older copies now have genuine wear of their own. No single test is decisive. An experienced eye compares a figure against many published and excavated examples, judging the type, modelling, glaze, inscription and wear together, and sets aside a piece that fails on any one of them however good the rest looks.

Provenance and the guarantee

The strongest evidence is a history: an old collection label or number, an auction record, a published photograph, or an early dealer's invoice. Because ushabtis were made in sets, an inscribed figure can sometimes be matched to others from the same burial in museum collections. Ask for whatever history exists. A reputable dealer will say what is known, say plainly what is not, and put the guarantee of authenticity in writing with a right of return.

Ushabtis at the gallery

The ushabtis currently for sale are on the Egyptian Ushabtis page. They include faience figures inscribed for named owners, among them overseers and a chantress of Amun-Re, alongside wood and terracotta examples. Each is described by material, period and inscription, with provenance stated where it is known and a certificate of authenticity from Howard Nowes, AAA, with every piece. For scarabs, see How do I know an Egyptian scarab is authentic?