Ancient Art, Antiquities, Books, Natural History, Stamps & Coins

Comprising mostly glazed tubular, globular, barrel and other beads, in a vintage red cigarette box with an old label 'The Alma Cigarettes Company, Ltd., Boulak Square Cairo'. 87 grams total including tin, 1-18 mm



Excavated from Egypt in 1914. From the private collection of Mr David Sams and his wife Elizabeth Kate Sams, gentry and amateur archaeologists who travelled to Egypt in 1914 with their daughter Ethel. Mr Sams and his wife led digging expeditions from which these items come from the family estate of Mr and Mrs Sams, by direct descent to their granddaughter.

Comprising a long element from a tunic, possibly a sleeve from a child’s garment, in brown wool with a red edge, a pair of segmenta at both sides in purple and yellow, ornamented with crosses inside lozenges and spirals. 27 grams, 30.5 cm



Acquired 1970s-1996. Property of a North American collector. London collection, 2016.

This decorative part of a tunic is possibly a part of the sleeve of a child's garment, and the crosses reiterate the fact that these fabrics were produced in a by then heavily Christianised Roman Empire.

Squat in profile and discoid in plan, with a central perforation on the upper face and a pierced lug handle at the rear; concentric bands of pointillé ornament on the upper face and incised rings on the base; nozzle broken; supplied with an old handwritten collector's record slip made from an envelope. 97 grams, 11.3 cm



Found Alexandria, Egypt. From the estate of a deceased Sussex private collector since the early 20th century. Accompanied by an old original handwritten information slip.

Mummiform figure modelled with a heavy lappet wig, encircled at the top by a sash band; low-relief crossed arms, with painted implements, a seed bag on the back, and a column of hieroglyphs on the front dedicated to: 'The Osiris, songstress of Amun Sedjet(?), true of voice'. 52.8 grams, 90 mm



From the collection of a London gentleman, 2000s.

Comprising a large portion of tunic, with a complete section of the collar (maniakion) divided in successive decorative circular bands, ornamented with geometric patterns of floral elements, plants, interlaces; a central segmentum broadly decorated with geometric patterns, palmettes, triangles, and a round medallion with an impressive floral design; the segmentum is bordered by two purple stripes, flanked by other two bands of vegetal ornaments enclosed in medallions; the terminal part of the tunic still presents the fastening stripes of selvedges in rope forming the lowed border; S-twist yellow-orange and purple wool warp on linen; a long clavus in purple wool on linen decorated with vegetal interlaces, the borders meander decorated. 236 grams total including paper folder, 57.5 cm



Acquired 1970s-1996. Property of a North American collector. London collection, 2016.

The large fragment featuring geometric and vegetal decoration may date to the early period of the Islamic conquest, when tunic ornamentation began to take on an increasingly abstract and geometric character, often linked to the representation of plants and Nilotic flora. The rich decoration of the tunic and the use of purple suggest that it may have belonged to an aristocrat or a wealthy ecclesiastic of the Coptic-Greek population, or perhaps to a dignitary of the Umayyad Empire.

Almond-shaped with large black irises and white sclerae. 4.12 grams total, 27-29 mm



Acquired on the UK art market, 1977-1979. Private collection, London.

Egyptian coffin eye inlays were both decorative and symbolic, designed to make the coffin appear more lifelike and to assist the deceased in the afterlife. Typically, they featured a white sclera (glass, travertine, alabaster, or quartz), a dark iris (glass or, more often, obsidian), and sometimes red paint at the inner corner. The eyes were often set in bronze or copper frames, occasionally with faience or bronze eyebrows.

Rectangular-section panel with tapering profile, fluting to the upper face. 23.6 grams, 48 mm



From the private collection of a European gentleman (1942-2024), formed since the 1970s.

This fragment most likely belongs to a striated skirt or wig.

Turquoise-glazed wedjat-eye, carved on one face; pierced longitudinally. 0.77 grams, 18 mm



Excavated from Egypt in 1914. From the private collection of Mr David Sams and his wife Elizabeth Kate Sams, gentry and amateur archaeologists who travelled to Egypt in 1914 with their daughter Ethel. Mr Sams and his wife led digging expeditions from which these items come, from the family estate of Mr and Mrs Sams, by direct descent to their granddaughter.

The wedjat-eye amulet depicts Horus’s healed eye, blending human and falcon features. Its ancient Egyptian name means ‘the one that is sound’. Myth says Seth wounded or took the eye, and Thoth later restored it. Believed to offer protection, healing, and regeneration, the popular amulet was worn by the living and the dead.

With detailing to the body and head, ribbed suspension loop above the head. 0.97 grams, 20 mm



London, UK, gentleman, 1990s.

Fly amulets served apotropaic functions, protecting against bites and warding off pests. Some may also have symbolised fertility. Pharaohs even awarded gold fly pendants to honour soldiers’ bravery and tenacity.

A double-sided wedjat-eye amulet depicting a human eye shape paired with an eyebrow and specific falcon markings: a tear-like drop extending down from the front of the lower lid and a stylised spiral curl trailing from the base; longitudinally pierced for suspension. 9.8 grams, 36 mm



Ex Carl Leonhard Burckhardt-Reinhard (1902-1965), formed since 1922, Egypt. Inherited by his son Christopher Burckhardt in 1966, Switzerland. Since then in the possession of his wife, Switzerland.

The wedjat represents the left eye of Horus that was healed by Thoth. It symbolises the moon, while the right eye of the falcon-headed sky god symbolises the sun. Amulets in the shape of the wedjat were said to have magical powers and the ability to protect and heal.

Comprising: a chestnut-coloured steatite scarab with a Thutmosis III cartouche and hieroglyphs on the underside; a tan-coloured faience scaraboid with a Thutmosis III cartouche on the convex obverse and the same cartouche with hieroglyphs, faced by a seated baboon, on the underside; offered with a modern blue scarab in a gold mount. 6.05 grams total, 22-25 mm



Private collection of Kal Noselson, New York, acquired between 1976 and the late 1990s; thence by descent. Accompanied by the collector's original inked images.

Modelled in the round in advancing pose with head turned. 115 grams, 81 mm



Acquired on the UK art market since the 1990s. From the property of a late Lincolnshire, UK, gentleman; thence by descent.