Figure of a hunchback, plaster, copy of wooden original from Sakkara, 3000-2001BC

The curvature of the backbone is medically known as kyphosis but is more commonly known as a ‘hunchback’. It may have been caused by tuberculosis of the spine, now known as Pott’s disease.

Henry Wellcome did his utmost to acquire objects for his collection. He was not always successful. Undeterred, he would seek permission to have copies made of those objects he could not acquire. This copy was purchased by one of his agents, Captain P Johnston-Saint, in Cairo, Egypt, in 1933. The original dates from 2000-1000 BCE.