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_900x900.jpg "Egyptian Alabaster and Glass Eye Pair")
_200x200.jpg "Egyptian Alabaster and Glass Eye Pair")
.jpg "Egyptian Alabaster and Glass Eye Pair")
LOT 0006
Egyptian Alabaster and Glass Eye Pair
LATE-PTOLEMAIC PERIOD, 664-30 B.C.
1 1/4 in. (15.33 grams, 31mm).
The sclera white alabaster stone and the iris black glass.
ProvenanceFrom a North American gentleman's collection, 1990s.
FootnotesEgyptian coffin eye inlays were both decorative and symbolic, intended to make the coffin appear lifelike and assist the deceased in the afterlife. Typically, they featured a white sclera (glass, travertine, alabaster or quartz), a dark iris (glass or 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.
CONDITIONTimeLine 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:
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Egyptian Faience Mummy Bead Panel with Four Sons of Horus
Ptolemaic Period, circa 332-30 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £182
Openwork beaded panel depicting a winged scarab with the Four Sons of Horus, Hapy, Imsety, Qebehsenuef, and Duamutef below; restrung. 22.9 grams, 11.3 cm wide
Ex Mariaud de Serres collection, Paris, France, 1980s-1990s. Accompanied by a previously illustrated catalogue card with provenance.
Winged scarabs were often used as funerary amulets and believed to symbolise the deceased's rebirth and regeneration. The Four Sons of Horus were deities responsible for protecting the deceased's internal organs. Here, on the left, is the baboon-headed Hapy, protector of the lungs, then the human-headed Imsety, protector of the liver, followed by the falcon-headed Qebehsenuef, who protected the intestines and, finally, the erect-eared jackal-headed Duamutef on the right, who protected the stomach. -
Romano-Egyptian Faience and Other Bead Necklace String
Roman Period, 30 B.C.-323 A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £59
Composed mainly of melon, oblate and spherical beads, with two large discoid beads as a central feature, restrung. 34 grams, 33.7 cm
Ex Ancient Art Shop, Windsor, UK, 1990s. Ex private West County, UK, collection. -
Very Large Egyptian Expedition Lithograph of the Temple of Philae
Early 19th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £94
Proof etching on laid paper of plate 6 from Description de l'egypte entitled Île de Philae. Coupe et élévation de la galerie de l'est. Élévations des deux colonnades et de l'édifice du sud. Élévation du premier pylône. 252 grams, 104 x 68.5 cm
From the collection of a North American priest. Acquired between 1981-1996. Property of a North American collector.
Produced between February 1802 and 1830 on the orders of Napoleon Bonaparte; published between 1809 and 1828. Just 1,000 copies were distributed to various institutions, printed on laid paper with an 'Égypte ancienne et moderne' watermark. The book is subtitled Recueil des observations et des recherches qui ont été faites en Égypte pendant l’expédition de l’Armée française, publié par les ordres de Sa Majesté l’Empereur Napoléon le Grand (Gathering of observations and discoveries which were made in Egypt during the expedition of the French army, published on the orders of His Majesty the Emperor Napoleon the Great). It was the world's first encyclopedia devoted exclusively to the remains of ancient Egypt. The plates of this book are the first to present the archaeological sites of Thebes (Luxor). The Philae temple complex was one of the major monuments dismantled from its original location and relocated to a new site during the Aswan High Dam project. Most of the complex dates to the Ptolemaic Period, although some earlier and later elements remain.
