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

Carved from light-green feldspar, with a ribbed suspension loop above. 1.78 grams, 17 mm



London, UK, art market, 1980s. Private collection, London, UK.

Blue-glazed faience amuletic bead modelled as a lioness's head, pierced vertically through the nostrils with two holes. 2.5 grams, 21 mm



From a mid 20th century collection.

Decoration from the lower part of a tunic, featuring segmenta and clavi adorned with oval medallions (orbiculi) enclosing running hares and two nude, striding warrior figures facing in opposite directions, each holding a shield; white linen ground with tapestry-woven decoration, S-twist. 51 grams total including paper folder, 49.5 cm



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

The theme of rabbits or hares, in association with other characters and animals of the Dionysian thiasos in a hunting setting, has notable parallels. Such representations are linked to narratives of the Dionysian cycle.

Funerary figure with sockets for separate pivoting arms, ankle-length kilt with peg base; painted facial details and hair; mounted on a custom-made stand. 107 grams, 32.2 cm (179 grams total, 36 cm including stand)



Previously with Bonhams in the early 2000s. with Lyon & Turnbull, 17 November 2022, no.545. Property of a West Sussex, UK, gentleman. Accompanied by a copy of the Lyon & Turnbull catalogue listing.

Comprising a beaded winged scarab with the Four Sons of Horus beneath. 24.2 grams, 10.5 cm



Ex Art Shop Windsor, 1990s. From a private UK collection.

Winged scarabs were often used as funerary amulets and were believed to symbolise the deceased's rebirth and regeneration. The Four Sons of Horus were deities who safeguarded the deceased's internal organs. The human-headed Imsety protected the liver, the baboon-headed Hapy the lungs, the jackal-headed Duamutef the stomach, and the falcon-headed Qebehsenuef the intestines.

Comprising: three cartouche-shaped inlays, a djed pillar, two standing deities (possibly Isis and Horus), and a narrow, fragmentary inlay (possibly another cartouche). 8.98 grma total, 31-37 mm



From a 20th century UK collection.

Mixed group of beads, including two cat-shaped amulets, a hybrid dwarf with a ram's head, bird wings and tail, wearing a lunar crescent-and-disc headdress, large barrel-shaped bead, and others. 47 grams total, 1-23 mm



Ex 1990s collection.

The outline displays the characteristic wedjat-eye motif: a fusion of a human eye and eyebrow, combined with specific falcon markings: a tear-like drop extending down from the front of the lower lid and a stylised curl trailing from the base; longitudinally pierced for suspension. 7.15 grams, 41 mm



From a mid 20th century collection.

The wedjat-eye amulet depicts Horus’s healed eye, blending human and falconine features. Its ancient Egyptian name means ‘the one that is sound’. Myth holds that 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.

Carved in high relief with a flat underside, reptilian body with finely rendered scales, and a small human head, mounted on a custom-made wooden stand. 40.79 grams, 68 mm wide (116 grams total, 93 mmm wide including stand)



Private collection. with Mallams, Oxford, Library Sale, 2025. Acquired by the current owner from the above.

The earliest representation of a human-headed crocodile appears in a vignette from Spell 88 of the Book of the Dead dating to the reign of Ramesses II (13th century B.C.) and identifies the deceased as Sobek. Stylistically, this example appears to be from the Late Period, when amulets representing Sobek-Osiris or Sobek-Re are known.

Squat in profile with inturned rim, loop handles, old collector's ticket 'Nile Silt. Pottery bowl 26th Dynasty (664-525 BC)'. 99 grams, 12.2 cm wide



Acquired from various London-based, UK, antiquity dealers. From a Derbyshire gentleman's private museum formed from the late 1970s-early 1980s.

Comprising a winged scarab modelled with a ribbed carapace and two extended wings with feather detailing; a suspension hole runs transversely through the head. 10.98 grams, 60 mm



with a privately curated collection, 1980s-early 2000s. From the private collection and estate of Christine Simons (1943-2025), West Midlands, UK.

Winged scarabs were often used as funerary amulets and were believed to symbolise the deceased's rebirth and regeneration.

Comprising black-and-yellow mosaic glass beads shaped like snails. 10.4 grams total, 10-11 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.