A mixed group of scarabs and intaglios comprising: carnelian plaque with helmetted warrior holding shield with right hand and winged Nike on his left; green glazed composition scarab with enigmatic hieroglyphs on base; onyx scarab with an armed running warrior on base, cut in Rome; a later gold bracelet with an Etruscan scarab; one wedjat eye scaraboid; an Etruscan scarab with a centaur; one stone scarab with seated Ra-Horakhty above nb reading 'lord Ra Horakhty'; one pink stone scarab with bird. 4.13 grams total, 12-15 mm

Supplied with small a handwritten note: 'Antiquities found in Rome, given to Henrietta Sophia Benfield by her mother'.
Henrietta Sophia Benfield (1796-1857) was the daughter of Paul Benfield and his wife, Mary Frances, daughter of Henry Swinburne (1743-1803). Property of the Berkeley collection. With Sotheby's, London, 11 December 2019, lot 182.
English private collection.

A figurine in blue-green faience depicting a human female displaying traits of achondroplasia, with a disproportionate body, protruding abdomen, prominent buttocks, and shortened limbs; the large and exaggeratedly flattened head sports a distinctive hairstyle consisting of three ‘bunches’ on the front and three long braids at the back; the shaven top of the head is indicated by stippling; the figure wearing a long, single-strand shell necklace, armlets, and a girdle, all indicated in black pigment, as are the facial details, hair colour, pubic triangle, fingernails, and toenails. 50 grams, 66 mm high

Acquired from Dr Jan Beekmans, circa 1985.
UK private collection.

Accompanied by an academic report by Egyptologist Paul Whelan.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.11594-198343.

Cf. The Metropolitan Museum, New York, accession number 1972.48, for a similar figure; cf. Bourriau, J., Pharaohs And Mortals, Egyptian art in the Middle Kingdom, CUP, 1988, pp.121-122, for discussion and female dwarf figures; for a detailed discussion of the three-braid hairstyle see Tooley, A.M.J., Notes on Type 1 Truncated Figurines. Part 2. Hairstyles and the Conceptual Development of Braided Forms, SAK 49, 2020, pp.243-274 and pl. 27.

This figurine belongs to a rare sub-type in a category of anthropomorphic figures produced during the late 12th-13th Dynasty. The category comprises around 200 figurines which include truncated-leg females, ‘grotesque’ human forms, and those displaying more distinct traits of achondroplasia, such as can be observed in this figurine. Very few examples of this particular sub-type are known, of which only one in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York provides a close parallel in terms of overall styling and form with this figurine. The purpose of this figurine is not fully understood, but other types of female representations in the large corpus of Middle Kingdom faience figurines are now considered to have embodied generative and regenerative power for their owners. This figurine shares the same distinctive three-braid hairstyle and the necklace, armlets, and girdle body adornments found on some. Body adornments of this kind also occur on wooden ‘paddle doll’ female figurines which are considered to have some connection with khener-dancers, who performed in royal, temple and funerary spheres. Since, in funeral contexts, ritual dances were often performed by dwarfs, a further connection can possibly be made between the role of khener-dancers and this figurine. The performance of such dancers in royal or funerary contexts was considered to bring the power of regeneration and potency to the recipient.

A carved limestone relief fragment with profile male head facing left, with close-cropped hair and detailed treatment of the eye, ear and mouth; inked inscription to the reverse 'E. H. Heckett.'; set in an old velvet-covered mount. 129 grams, 71 mm wide

From the estate of a deceased American, acquired between 1970-1989.
with Bonham's, London, Knightsbridge, 28 October 2009, lot 23 [Part].

Accompanied by a copy of the relevant Bonhams catalogue pages.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.11596-198972.

A blue glazed bifacial scaraboid; one side bearing the cartouche of Thutmose III and the legend “Enduring image of Re” and the other side Seti I’s throne name Men-Maat-Re (meaning “Eternal is the Justice of Re”) with other signs for an epithet that perhaps reads as “truly praised (of Re)”; pierced for suspension. 4.11 grams, 23 mm

From an old UK collection.
From the private collection of Alf Baxendale (1941-2016) part 2, keen Egyptologist, member of the Egyptology Society, trustee of the Amarna Trust; thence by descent.

Accompanied by an identification display card.
Accompanied by a copy of his obituary published in Horizon, The Amarna Project and Amarna Trust newsletter, Issue 18, 2017, p.21, by Barry John Kemp, CBE, FBA, Professor Emeritus of Egyptology at the University of Cambridge and directing excavations at Amarna in Egypt.

See Petrie, W.M.F., Scarabs and Cylinders with Names, London, 1917, pp.44-45, nos.36-37, for similar arrangements of Seti I’s throne name with two Maat feathers and the cartouche with legend; for a similar arrangement of the Thutmose III cartouche with legends (on a scarab from his reign) see Ben-Tor, D., The Scarab: A Reflection of Ancient Egypt, Jerusalem, 1993, p.50, no.12

Seti I's reign saw the production of many scarabs, scaraboids and plaques bearing his name as well as that of Thutmose III - who was considered a great warrior king.

A carved black granite statue base fragment with four toes modelled in the round, with delineated nails of a left foot. 253 grams, 11.8 cm

Acquired from France, 2015.
English private collection.

Accompanied by a copy of the French cultural passport no.167713.
Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Alberto Maria Pollastrini.

A bright blue glazed worker shabti modelled on a rectangular base, arms crossed over the chest, detailing in black to the wig and eyes, holding a pair of hoes, a seed bag to the back, the hair tied with a seshed headband; a vertical column of hieroglyphs to the front of the body naming the wab-priest Pa-di-Khonsu-iy; repaired. 76 grams, 98 mm high

From a Worcester deceased estate.
Property of a Cambridgeshire gentleman.

Accompanied by an academic report by Egyptologist Paul Whelan.

See Janes, G., The Shabti Collections 6: A Selection from World Museum, Liverpool, Cheshire, 2016, pp.270-271, nos.125a-b, for an overseer and worker shabti for Pa-di-Khonsu-iy.

As a wab-priest, Pa-di-Khonsu-iy would have assisted a higher-ranking hem-priest with the general maintenance and ritual activities in a temple, likely located either in Thebes in Upper Egypt or Tanis in the Delta.

A blue-glazed faience chalice representing the blue lotus flower with a tall, flaring cup rounded at the base, short stem with a flared foot; held in a lockable wooden presentation box with key; restored. 104 grams, 12.5 cm high

Acquired from Dr Jan Beekmans, circa 1982.
UK private collection.

Accompanied by an academic report by Egyptologist Paul Whelan.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.11599-198342.

Cf. The British Museum, museum number EA4801 'Blue glazed composition (faience) drinking-cup, in the form of a stemmed lotus flower', for similar; cf. The Metropolitan Museum, accession number 26.7.972, for similar; Walters Art Gallery, inventory no.48.416, for similar.

It is thought that blue lotus chalices served cultic or votive roles in temples or in offering rituals to the dead, and the white lotus versions were used as drinking vessels. Called Seshen by the ancient Egyptians, the blue lotus symbolised solar concepts surrounding rebirth- possibly because its flowers open their petals in the morning and close them again at night. Given this connection, it is not surprising to find that the lotus features prominently in ancient Egyptian funerary art, in banqueting scenes honouring the dead and in bouquets adorning the coffin and its bier. It is thought that the petals were used to make perfume and that the ancient Egyptians exploited the lotus's narcotic properties and added its extracted essence to wine to enhance the pleasurable effects of the drink, as can be seen in banqueting scenes.

A limestone frieze section which once part of a banquet scene, the fragment carved with the head and upper body of a noblewoman facing right, wearing a broad collar and an elaborate wig of long, tightly curled locks with a fringe of twisted strands, decorative headband with a lotus flower to the front; remains of pigmentation. 138 grams, 84 mm

From an old UK collection.
From the private collection of Alf Baxendale (1941-2016) part 2, keen Egyptologist, member of the Egyptology Society, trustee of the Amarna Trust; thence by descent.

Accompanied by an identification display card.
Accompanied by a copy of his obituary published in Horizon, The Amarna Project and Amarna Trust newsletter, Issue 18, 2017, p.21, by Barry John Kemp, CBE, FBA, Professor Emeritus of Egyptology at the University of Cambridge and directing excavations at Amarna in Egypt.
Accompanied by an academic report by Egyptologist Paul Whelan.

Cf. Hagen, R. et al., Agypten, Taschen, Italy, 1999, pp.96-97, for a similar, albeit painted, figure dated to the 18th Dynasty; cf. The Metropolitan Museum, New York, accession number 36.3.239, for a similar figure of a slightly earlier date.

A carved limestone relief fragment depicting a squatting god Amun-Re, facing right wearing a headdress topped by two ostrich-feather plumes, a segmented mantle to the shoulders, knees drawn up supporting another ostrich plume; inked accession numbers to the reverse: '974.15', '69.10019'; accompanied by a custom-made display stand. 53 grams, 74 mm (84 grams total, 10.5 cm high including stand)

From a deceased American estate, acquired between 1970-1989.
with Bonham's, London, Knightsbridge, 28 October 2009, lot 23 [Part].

Accompanied by a copy of the relevant Bonhams catalogue pages.

A wooden funerary mask with finely delineated painted eyes and eyebrows on a gesso ground; holes to accept attachment pegs to the reverse; mounted on a custom-made display stand. 1.14 kg, 32.5 cm high including stand

Ex private Swiss collection, before 1960.

This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.11600-199042.

Cf. similar item in the British Museum, London, under accession number EA46631.

The mask is typical of Phoenician-Punic production and likely had a funerary purpose.

A polychrome painted cartonnage foot-case from a cartonnage mummy with two stylised bare feet to the upper face, each with a ankle panel with the god Anubis in jackal form with a flail over the shoulder, framed by geometric borders which continue around the perimeter of the foot cover; soles of polychrome chequered sandals to base. 295 grams, 25 cm wideFine condition.

Ex UK art market, 1970s.
Property of a London gentleman.

Accompanied by an academic report by Egyptologist Paul Whelan.

Cf. The Metropolitan Museum, accession number O.C.348, for a comparable example; cf. The British Museum, museum number EA29475, for a comparable example.

Foot-cases like this were part of group of cartonnage adornments for a mummy, which usually comprised a mask, broad collar, stomach cover, leg section, and foot-case. For a complete set found on a mummy from Abydos see Scott III, G.D., Ancient Egyptian Art at Yale, Yale, 1986, pp.160-161.

A blue glazed composition figure of the advancing god Ra (possibly Ra-Horakhty), falcon-headed and wearing a sun disc, set on an integral rectangular base, left leg positioned in front of the right, arms held straight by his sides, wearing a wig and kilt; tapering pillar with suspension loop behind solar disc; repaired. 18.4 grams, 87 mm high

Acquired from Dr Jan Beekmans, circa 1982.
UK private collection.

In ancient Egypt, Ra sat as the king of all the deities and the father of all creation, the god who could not only govern the sun, but who transformed himself into the sun. He was associated with the falcon, hence he is typically portrayed as a human with a falcon's head. The major cultic centre for Ra was the ancient city Iwnw, known as Heliopolis to the Greeks, which today lies under modern Cairo. The ancient Egyptians were an agricultural society inhabiting a desert; the sun (and thus Ra) was an integral component of their world view. Placed on the chest of the deceased, this amulet offered the wearer the chance of eternal renewal each morning with the sun.