A glazed composition figure of the goddess Sekhmet advancing with feline head and sun-disc headdress; dorsal pillar and rectangular base; repaired. 19.8 grams, 86 mm high

Acquired early 1990s.
Ex private American collection; thence by descent.
Private Swiss collection since 1998.

Cf. similar figure in the British Museum, London, under accession number 9,9,86,64.

A carnelian amuletic papyrus stalk pendant, colour graduated along the stem. 2.4 grams, 29 mm

Private collection, acquired 1999.

Cf. Andrews, C., Amulets of Ancient Egypt, London, 1994, item 83(c), for type.

A bronze statuette of the god Ptah, wearing a tight-fitting mummiform garment and cap, standing on a rectangular base, detailing to his face, straight false beard and broad collar, his arms held in front of his chest, holding the was sceptre; lug to base; accompanied by a custom-made wooden display base. 160 grams total, 13.5 cm including stand

Acquired 1980s.
Private collection of L.H., Staffordshire, UK.
Property of a Sussex, UK, teacher.

Cf. The Metropolitan Museum, accession number 04.2.405, for similar; Tiribilli, E., The bronze figurines of the Petrie Museum from 2000 BC to AD 400, London, 2018, p.107 no.146, for a similarly detailed example from Saqqara.

Ptah was the god of Egypt's capital city Memphis and master craftsman of the gods, known for his benevolent and approachable character.

A rare example of a terracotta shabti depicting an overseer wearing a civil kilt, incised whip over his right shoulder; stylised facial features with pinched profile and incised eyes, nostrils and mouth; incised stripe to the left shoulder; accompanied by a custom-made stand. 303 grams, 22.5 cm (465 grams total, 28 cm including stand)Fine condition.

Acquired 1979-1999.
London collection of the late Mr S.M., thence by descent.

Accompanied by a copy of a previous cataloguing slip.
Accompanied by an original thermoluminescence analysis report no.N122j43, from Oxford Authentication.

Cf. Petrie, W.M.F., Gizeh and Rifeh, London, 1907, pl. XXVIIC, for numerous examples of crude terracotta worker and overseer shabtis of the late New Kingdom from Deir Rifeh; Janes, G., The Shabti Collections 6. A Selection from the World Museum Liverpool, Lymm, 2016, pp.516-517, nos. 271 a-c, for examples of crude mud worker shabtis of the early Ptolemaic period found at Abydos holding a stylised implement.

Many crude clay shabtis are known from provincial sites such as Deir Rifeh and Abydos, with dates ranging from the Late New Kingdom - Ptolemaic Period. This overseer figure would favour a dating closer to the earlier date, when overseer shabtis were a common feature.

A red glass insert of a profile face with remains of a pharaonic crown to the forehead. 16.7 grams, 31 mm wide

Ex Joseph Altounian (1889-1954), Paris and Macon, thence by decent.
with Christie's, London, 3 July 2018, lot 29.
English private collection.

This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.11603-199738.

Cf. The Metropolitan Museum, New York, accession number 66.99.186, for a profile glass inlay of this date; cf. Riefstahl, E., Ancient Egyptian Glass and Glazes In The Brooklyn Museum, New York, 1968, p.77 no. 76, pl. XI for a similar face belonging to a royal figure inlay with separately fashioned crown, collar, and torso.

Joseph Altounian opened his shop in 1906 in Paris and then relocated to Mâcon in 1924 when he was joined by his wife Henriette Lorbet. They specialised in Egyptian and Greek art, medieval sculpture and decorative arts, selling to major museums both in Europe and in the United States. At his death in 1954 the business was taken over by his daughter, Jacqueline Altounian-Lorbet, and her husband Bernard Rousset, who then specialised in antique furniture.

A blue-glazed composition amulet in the form of an ibis (representing the god Thoth) seated on a wedge-shaped base, facing a figure of Maat appearing as a diminutive stooping female with an ostrich feather; some details to both figures rendered in a darker blue glaze; suspension loop to the rear of the bird's neck. 9.15 grams, 37 mm

Acquired from Dr Jan Beekmans, circa 1984.
UK private collection.

Cf. The Metropolitan Museum, New York, accession number 26.7.873, for similar; cf. The Saint Louise Art Museum, object number 818:1940, for a very similar parallel.

Maat and the moon god Thoth, husband and wife, together embody wisdom and cosmic order. As a divine couple, they served the sun god, Re. Like Thoth, the ancient Egyptians connected the ibis with the moon, owing to its crescent moon-shaped beak. The ibis was well known in antiquity for its refusal to drink unhealthy and poisoned water, or to kill poisonous reptiles, and set mankind an example of cleanliness; thus, like the god Thoth, the ibis offered protection against dangerous forces and served as a model for purity and good sense. Maat embodies the order that Thoth protects. Her symbol, an ostrich feather, references a bird that inhabits desert and savannah habitats, although it must never wander too far away from rivers and lakes. The ostrich cannot fly, but it is a fast runner and a strong fighter.

A lead-alloy figurine of the sacred uraeus with coiled body, head raised and hood expanded ready to strike; mounted on a custom-made display stand. 42.9 grams total, 61 mm

Ex collection of Louis-Gabriel Bellon (1819-1899), France.

Cf. Andrews, C., Amulets of Ancient Egypt, London, 1994, pp.34-5.

A bronze staff or sceptre terminal formed as a priest of Anubis with jackal's head and human body, standing and wearing a tightly-draped toga with right hand extended in a fist; square base and socket to the underside. 223 grams, 12.7 cm high

Private collection, since 1989.

This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.11604-199678.

Cf. The British Museum, museum number EA36064 'Solid-cast copper alloy figure of Anubis wearing a short robe and holding a palm branch', for a comparable figure of this broad period; see Andrews, C., Amulets of Ancient Egypt, London, 1994, p.46-7, for discussion; see also, Tiradritti, F., The Cairo Museum Masterpieces of Egyptian Art, London, 1999, p. 401, for a slightly more elaborate bronze staff terminal of Anubis as a Roman legionnaire (Cairo Museum inv. no. CG27694).

Anubis was the ancient Egyptian god of the dead - represented in jackal form or in the form of a jackal-headed man - and one of ancient Egypt's most iconic deities. Originally god of the underworld, he was eventually associated more specifically with the embalming process and funerary rites. His fur was generally depicted as black owing to the association of that colour with fertility and beliefs regarding rebirth in the afterlife.

An opaque black glass inlay in the form of the head of Anubis in jackal form; repaired. 19.2 grams, 58 mm high

French collection, 1960s-early 2000s.
From an important Paris gallery, France.

Cf. Hornung, E. and Bryan, B.M., The Quest for Immortality: Treasures of Ancient Egypt, Munich/London/New York, 2002, pp.190-91, no. 96, for two closely comparable Anubis heads from a composite inlay (Cairo Museum, inv. nos. TR 21-12-26-19/1, 19/2).

A white limestone figure of the god Ptah with false beard, wearing an enveloping cloak and a broad wesekh-collar, holding the shaft of a was sceptre; serene, oval face with almond-shaped eyes and fleshy lips; remnants of dorsal pillar to reverse; mounted on a custom-made display stand. 1.39 kg total, 22.3 cm high including stand

Ex private Belgium collection, 1960s.
with Vanderkindere Auctions, Brussels, Belgium, 26 February 2013, lot 261.
English private collection.

This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.11605-199743.
Accompanied by a scholarly note by Egyptologist Paul Whelan.

Cf. The Walters Museum, accession number 54.1017, for a similar figure in bronze created within this time period.

Ptah is attested from the beginning of ancient Egypt’s dynastic history and was a creator god, a god of craftsmen, and the patron deity of the Memphite region. The principal temple of the god was located in the city of Memphis. The fragmentary back pillar on this statuette indicates that it was most probably a temple offering, originally inscribed with an invocation to Ptah together with the donor’s name. Such votive figurines with back pillars naming the god and the dedicator occur in various materials, including faience and stone.

A pale blue glazed mummiform shabti for an Imy-Khent priest, modelled standing on a rectangular base, arms crossed over the chest and holding a pick and a hoe, seed bag over the left shoulder, wearing a tripartite wig and false beard; two vertical columns of hieroglyphs to the front of the body, plain dorsal pillar; some of the hieroglyphs spelling the owner's name are poorly rendered, but appears to be Ba-ankh-sa-sobeky. 99 grams, 13.5 cm high

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

Accompanied by an academic report by Egyptologist Paul Whelan.

Cf. The British Museum, museum number EA49422 'Green glazed composition shabti of Tjahorpata', for a similar shabti figure of this period; cf. The Metropolitan Museum, New York, accession number 30.8.187, for a priest shabti of this date.

Although the name of the shabti’s owner and, in particular, that of his parent, are rather unclear, the titles are clearly written and inform us that Ba-ankh-sa-sobeky served as an ‘Imy-khent priest’ associated with the Delta city of Mendes, where the principal deity was the sacred ram god Ba-neb-djedet (meaning ‘Ram, lord of Djedet’). The hieroglyph of the standing ram (Ba) forms the first part of the priest’s name. From the Late Period onwards the priestly title of the nearby city of Hermopolis Parva, ‘One who Separates the Two Gods’, also appears in Mendesian title strings, perhaps indicating that Hermopolis Parva and its religious cults had come under the control of Mendes; indeed, Mendes is thought to have been the capital of Egypt during the 29th Dynasty. The crocodile god Sobek was also worshipped at Mendes in later periods and Ba-ankh-sa-sobeky’s name appears to reflect both this reptilian deity and the traditional ram god of the city.

A glazed composition shabti with square base and plain dorsal pillar, tripartite wig and false beard, arms folded across the chest holding agricultural tools and a seed bag to the left shoulder; nine horizontal bands of worn hieroglyphic text from Chapter Six of the Book of the Dead to the lower body. 212 grams, 19.5 cm high

Acquired early 1990s.
Ex private American collection; thence by descent.
Private Swiss collection since 1998.