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LOT 0006
Collection of Egyptology Letters, Documents and Photographs
EARLY 20TH CENTURY A.D.
3 3/4 - 11 7/8 in. (245 grams total, 9.5-30 cm).
Comprising: original typescript (some carbon copies) and manuscript documents in Arabic, French and English relating to Egyptian archaeological sites and matters, including requests for permits to visit sites, together with several telegraph forms including a permission for a visit to the tomb of Tutankhamen on 13 February 1923 and requests for similar permission; together with seven monochrome photographic prints depicting Egyptian sites. [37]
ProvenanceEx Hans Nilson collection.
FootnotesThe names of numerous luminaries of Egyptology of the late 19th and early 20th century found in these documents, besides their significant contributions to our knowledge of ancient Egypt, also held important administrative roles in Egypt's Antiquities Service and the Cairo Museum. They include: Victor Loret (1859-1946), who served as Director General of the Egyptian Antiquities Service from 1897-1899; Émile Brugsch (1842-1930) served as Keeper in the Cairo Museum from 1883-1914; Reginald Engelbach (1888-1946) served as Chief Inspector of Upper Egypt for the Antiquities Service in 1920 and Keeper in the Cairo Museum from 1931-1941; Gustave Lefebvre (1879-1957) served as Inspector of Middle Egypt for the Antiquities Service from 1905-1914 and Keeper in the Cairo Museum from 1926-1928; James Quibell (1867-1935) served as Inspector of the Delta and Middle Egypt for the Antiquities Service from 1899-1904, Luxor 1904-1905, and Saqqara also in 1905. He was Keeper in the Cairo Museum from 1914-1923 and Secretary-General of the Antiquities Department from 1923-1925; Pierre Lacau (1873-1963) served as Director of the Antiquities Service from 1914-1936. When the tomb of Tutankhamun was discovered in 1922, Lacau ensured that its entire contents were secured for the Cairo Museum (much to the chagrin of Howard Carter and the Earl of Carnarvon); Howard Carter (1874-1939), although famous for discovering the tomb of Tutankhamun in 1922, earlier served as Chief Inspector of Antiquities of Upper Egypt from 1899-1905.
The name most frequently occurring in the documents is that of Paul Tottenham who served as Advisor to the Ministry of Public Works in Egypt, including a telegram he sent to Howard Carter on 15th February 1923 requesting that he attend a meeting with the Minister (of Public Works), presumably on matters concerning the tomb of Tutankhamun.
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LOT 0006
Collection of Egyptology Letters, Documents and Photographs
Sold for (Inc. bp): £845
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Egyptian Bronze Amun-Min-Kamutef Statuette
Late Period, 664-332 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £1,755
Modelled in the round as a votive ithyphallic figure wearing a double-plumed crown with a sun disc, holding a flail in his outstretched right hand and his erect phallus in the left; mounted on a custom-made display base. 538 grams total, 21 cm high including stand
Acquired on the London art market. Ex 'K' collection, 1990-2020s.
Amun-Min-Kamutef was a syncretic deity combining the attributes of Amun, the supreme god of the Egyptian pantheon, and Min who represents sexual procreativity. The iconography of Amun's ithyphallic form Kamutef is essentially that of Min, and serves to emphasise the sexual prowess of the god. Kamutef means 'bull of his mother' and appears to refer both to Amun's sky-goddess mother in her cow form and to the bull's sexual prowess and strength. -
Egyptian Faience Bes Amulet
Late New Kingdom, 1550-1070 B.C.Estimate: £200 - 300 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £111
Standing on a roughly oval base with hands on thighs, grotesque facial features; suspension loop to head. 1.31 grams, 26 mm
From an early 20th century Home Counties, UK, collection.
Despite his fearsome appearance, Bes was the protector of women in childbirth. -
Egyptian Polished Black Stone Pesesh-Kef Amulet
Late Period, 664-332 B.C.Estimate: £600 - 800 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £300
Ostrich feathers of Amun, delineated with a single vertical groove and curved tips; integral suspension loop to reverse; likely obsidian or basalt. 3.75 grams, 29 mm
From an early 20th century collection, Home Counties, UK, 1930-1940s.
The Pesesh-kef was a 'magical' ritual implement used in the ancient Egyptian Opening of the Mouth ceremony, which may have represented an implement used to cut umbilical cords. During the Opening of the Mouth ritual, priests held the implement to the mouth of a cult statue or mummy, allowing it to receive offerings.
