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_900x900.jpg "Coptic Marble Liturgical Vessel Fragment with Inscription")
_200x200.jpg "Coptic Marble Liturgical Vessel Fragment with Inscription")
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LOT 0029
Coptic Marble Liturgical Vessel Fragment with Inscription
6TH CENTURY A.D.
2 1/8 in. (87 grams, 55 mm).
Tongue-shaped with low rounded pad on the underside, raised edge with low-relief decoration of grape vines and leaves, the edge with pairs of opposing doves eating grapes; dedicatory Demotic inscription on the underside.
ProvenanceAcquired in the mid 1980s-1990s.
Private collection, Switzerland, thence by descent.
Private collection, since the late 1990s.
Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D'Amato.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12575-232108.
See Atalla, N.S., Coptic Art, Sculptures, Architecture, L'Art Copte, II, Cairo, 1989, figs. pp.109ff., for similar carved interlaces; Rutschowscaya, M.H., Benazeth, D., L’Art Copte en Égypte, 2000 ans de Christianisme, Paris, 2000, figs.109-118; Poupaki, E., ‘Early Byzantine Marble Vases from Kos Island, Dodecanese, Greece’ in Diamanti, C., Vassiliou A. (eds.), Eν Σοφίᾳ μαθητεύσαντες, Essays in Byzantine Material Culture and Society in Honour of Sophia Kalopissi-Verti, Oxford, 2019, figs.2-3, for a possible parallel.
FootnotesThese vessels were used as liturgical objects for church offerings or ritual, and were extensively employed from late antiquity in ecclesiastical contexts.
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LOT 0029
Coptic Marble Liturgical Vessel Fragment with Inscription
Estimate £1,200 - 1,700€1,390 - 1,970 (for guidance only)$1,620 - 2,300 (for guidance only)
Opening Bid
£667 (EUR 773; USD 900) ‡+BP*
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Large Egyptian Green Faience Figure of Nefertum with Figure of Sekhmet to the Reverse
Ptolemaic Period, circa 332-30 B.C.Estimate: £2,000 - 3,000 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £1,000
Modelled standing with arms held vertically at his sides, wearing a tripartite wig surmounted by a lotus flower flanked by scrolled leaves; dorsal pillar with low-relief image of Sekhmet in lioness-headed form and solar disc above; mounted on a custom-made stand. 480 grams total, 19.5 cm high including stand
with Art Ancient, London, UK. Private collection, London, UK. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13352-257009.
Nefertum is often depicted with a prominent lotus blossom above his head, symbolising both his divine beauty and his connection to the sun's rejuvenating power. He is sometimes portrayed with a lion's head or a lioness’s mane, or, as here, accompanied by an image of his lioness mother, Sekhmet, on his back, emphasising his link to her fierce and healing powers. -
Egyptian Black Stone Scarab
Late Period, 664-332 B.C.Estimate: £60 - 80 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £5
With linear detailing to the carapace, the underside with a drilled image of two figures holding hands on a baseline; supplied with a museum-quality impression. 2 grams, 13 mm
From the private collection of a European gentleman (1942-2024), formed since the 1970s. -
Coptic Marble Liturgical Vessel Fragment with Inscription
6th century A.D.Estimate: £1,200 - 1,700 (‡+bp*)
Opening Bid: £667
Tongue-shaped with low rounded pad on the underside, raised edge with low-relief decoration of grape vines and leaves, the edge with pairs of opposing doves eating grapes; dedicatory Demotic inscription on the underside. 87 grams, 55 mm
Acquired in the mid 1980s-1990s. Private collection, Switzerland, thence by descent. Private collection, since the late 1990s. Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D'Amato. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12575-232108.
These vessels were used as liturgical objects for church offerings or ritual, and were extensively employed from late antiquity in ecclesiastical contexts.
