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LOT 0018
Egyptian 'Becker' Serpentine Vessel
NEW KINGDOM, 18TH DYNASTY, CIRCA 1450 B.C.
6 1/8 in. (1.2 kg, 15.5 cm).
Piriform jar with wide, flat rim and short neck, narrow neck and flat base.
ProvenanceEx Becker collection, 1920s.
Private collection, Los Angeles, USA, 1990s.
Private European collection.
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.12576-232111.
See Aston, B.G., Ancient Egyptian Stone Vessels, materials and forms, Heidelberg, 1994, pl.12, for examples of serpentine vessels; for the shape of the vessel, idem, p.97, no.185, type a (p.154, New Kingdom); Lilyquist, C., Egyptian Stone Vessels, Khian through Tuthmosis IV, New York, 1995, figs.67, 68, 85, 87.
FootnotesThree forms of serpentine were mainly used by the ancient Egyptians for stone vessels: a) green or grey serpentine with black veins; b) translucent green serpentine with black patches; c) granular black serpentine with intermixed grey or brown granules. Type a) serpentine, i.e. the green or grey one with black veins, has the longer time range, and was used for vessels from the Predynastic Period (Naqada II) through the New Kingdom. It was used for stone vessels, but also became common for statuettes and small toilet vessels. The class of green glazed kohl pots, many with carved or openwork decoration which are usually called ‘glazed steatite’ were more likely to be made of serpentine. The type here represented is a form known in the New Kingdom: a bag-shaped jar with neck, flat base, and wide thin rim. Similar vessels have been found in Thebes, Amarna, Kahun, among other localities.
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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 0018
Egyptian 'Becker' Serpentine Vessel
Estimate £2,500 - 3,500€2,900 - 4,060 (for guidance only)$3,380 - 4,730 (for guidance only)
Opening Bid
£1,250 (EUR 1,450; USD 1,688) ‡+BP*
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Egyptian Glazed Faience New Year Flask with Baboons
Late Period, 664-332 B.C.Estimate: £2,000 - 3,000 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £1,000
Lentoid body with segmented collars and blue detailing around the shoulders, neck with papyrus stalk detailing and a domed rim; addorsed stylised baboons flanking the neck. 263 grams, 16 cm
Acquired on the UK art market, 1990s. Private collection, New York, USA. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13350-255452.
The concept of renewal is expressed through the form, decoration, and inscriptions of this type of flask. Their rounded bodies evoke the sun disc, symbolising daily rebirth, while the squatting baboons flanking the mouth allude to those that greeted the rising sun each morning. The blue collar decoration, including floral motifs, as seen here, symbolises the renewal of the agricultural cycle through the annual Nile inundation. The papyrus-capital spout reinforces this theme of regeneration. Although traditionally dated exclusively to the 26th Dynasty, examples recovered from Late Period and early Ptolemaic contexts indicate that their popularity actually endured for several centuries. -
Egyptian Bifacial Steatite Amuletic Plaque with Cartouches for Tuthmoses III
New Kingdom, circa 1479-1425 B.C.Estimate: £150 - 200 (+bp*)
Bids: 1 | Current Bid: £5
Amuletic bead, bifacial with designs: Side A - cartouche for Tuthmoses III with ankh, lion couchant, crown and other motifs; Side B - cartouche as on Side A with perching birds above and below. 2.93 grams, 18 mm
Ex John Cummings Ltd., Lincolnshire, UK. From the private collection of a Canadian gentleman living in Essex, UK, formed since the 1920s-circa 1990. Property of an Essex lady until the late 1990s; thence by descent. From the private collection of an Essex gentleman since the late 1990s. Accompanied by an old information card. -
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Egyptian Predynastic Stone Frog
4th millennium B.C.Estimate: £1,200 - 1,700 (‡+bp*)
Opening Bid: £600
Pyramidal in form with shallow-carved hip and facial detailing. 537 grams, 81 mm
with Artemis Gallery, Munich, Germany, 2001. Private collection, Europe. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12580-232124.
The frog had a great role in ancient Egyptian mythology and was connected with the mythology of creation. A number of gods and goddesses were connected with the frog such as Heqet, Ptah, and Heh. The connection with the god Ptah as a god of creation was probably due to the idea that Ptah was the only god who created the world in ancient Egypt through his heart and his tongue. Every work of the god came about through what his heart devised and his tongue commanded. Frogs were often associated with Hekat, deity of birth and fecundity. Amulets of frogs were frequent votive gifts at such Predynastic and Archaic sites at Abydos, Naqada, and Saqqara.
