Loading, please wait...

Use mousewheel to zoom in and out, click to enlarge

Details

LOT 0501

Coptic Bone Doll

5TH-6TH CENTURY A.D.

2 3/8 in. (14.3 grams, 60 mm).

With a curved body and emphasised head, carved with a small slit mouth and a raised rectangular nose.

Provenance

Dr Amnon Rosen, Jerusalem.
Private collection, Europe.

CONDITION

VETTING:

TimeLine Auctions follows a vetting process to ensure the authenticity and legality of all items, reinforcing our commitment to integrity and responsible trading. Each antiquity, antique, and coin lot undergoes thorough examination by a vetting committee of at least ten external specialists, professional trade association members, scientists, and archaeologists: Our Vetting Process


AUCTIONS:

TimeLine is a leading auction house specialising in antiquities, ancient art, collectables, natural history, coins, medals, and books. Our auctions offer museums, collectors, historians, and enthusiasts the opportunity to acquire unique and historically significant pieces.

LOT 0501

Coptic Bone Doll

Sold for (Inc. bp): £117

Print page

RELATED LOTS

  • Egyptian Necklace with Fly Beads
    Egyptian Necklace with Fly Beads
    New Kingdom, 18th Dynasty, 1550-1350 B.C. and later

    Sold for (Inc. bp): £1,430

    Group of restrung annular turquoise beads with gilt-metal interstitial collars and carnelian fly amulets; S-hook and eye closure; with custom display box. 10.45 grams, 48.5 cm long



    Ex Swiss collection, kept in London since the 1980s. Accompanied by a copy of a previous illustrated catalogue page.

    Since Egyptian artists often depicted fly whisks in the hands of pharaohs and high officials, one might assume that flies were simply a nuisance. However, the Egyptians held flies in high regard due to their quick speed, reactions, and persistence. Small fly amulets first appeared in burials during the Naqada II Period, c. 3200 B.C. These amulets grew in popularity, and the materials used to make them expanded during the New Kingdom, including gold, silver, lapis lazuli, carnelian, amethyst, faience, and bone. Fly amulets were believed to protect against insect bites and to ward off troublesome airborne creatures through apotropaic magic. Some believe they may have even been intended to symbolise the fly’s fecundity. Additionally, pharaohs would bestow gold fly-shaped pendants as military awards to honour the bravery and fly-like persistence of soldiers in battle.

    Lot Details

  • Egyptian Limestone Floral Inlay Group
    Egyptian Limestone 'Floral' Inlay Group
    Roman Period, 30 B.C.-323 A.D. or earlier

    Sold for (Inc. bp): £26

    Group of discoid inlay plaques or gaming counters, crinoids with cinquefoil motif. 60 grams total, 9-20 mm



    From a central London ADA dealership, 1980-1990.

    Flowers were symbolic of rebirth due to the daily reopening of their petals after nightfall. As a result, they were widely used in domestic settings, religious and funerary contexts, and as adornments. Similar rosette discs, like those recovered from the Ramesside Period palace at Qantir, were used as decorative elements in royal palaces.

    Lot Details

  • Phoenician Stone Scarab with Inscription
    Phoenician Stone Scarab with Inscription
    1st millennium B.C.

    Sold for (Inc. bp): £910

    With detailing to the carapace, the underside divided into four registers, the top and bottom with a winged Horus plaque, one register with a winged scarab flanked by two falcons, the register below with lying sphinxes flanking an ankh; pierced longitudinally. 9.7 grams, 27 mm



    Acquired in the mid 1980s-1990s. Private collection, Switzerland, thence by descent. Private collection, since the late 1990s.

    Lot Details

Stay up-to-date with the latest from TimeLine Auctions by joining our mailing list