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_900x900.jpg "Egyptian Black Hardstone Sphinx")
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_900x900.jpg "Egyptian Black Hardstone Sphinx")
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LOT 0473
Egyptian Black Hardstone Sphinx
LATE PERIOD-PTOLEMAIC PERIOD, CIRCA 500-31 B.C.
2 in. (74 grams total, 50 mm long including base).
An Egyptian or Graeco-Roman hardstone female sphinx modelled in the round, sitting on a sub-rectangular base, her hair tied in a bun on the top of her head, circular socket to the top face behind the head; mounted on a custom-made antique wooden display base.
ProvenanceFrom Saqqara in the late 1960s.
With John Cummings, Lincolnshire, UK, 1990s.
Acquired 20 May 1997.
Property of a South Oxfordshire private collector.
Accompanied by an original invoice no.6469 dated 20 May 1997.
Accompanied by a scholarly note by Egyptologist Paul Whelan.
Cf. a heavily worn steatite(?) winged sphinx, dated to 90-10 B.C., was found at Meroe and is now in The Museum of Fine Arts Boston, inv.no.22-1-609.
FootnotesThis type of sphinx amulet is quite rare in Egypt, for instance, the vast output and variety of amulets identified from the Late Period industrial-scale workshops at Naukratis does not include three-dimensional winged sphinxes, only their image impressed in scarabs, suggesting that this example may have been an import and/or once the possession of a Greek person in Egypt.
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AUCTIONS:
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Egyptian Amulet and Other Artefact Collection
Middle Kingdom-Roman Period, 2024-30 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £338
A mixed group of mainly composition artefacts and fragments comprising: a steatite scarab beetle inscribed with a scarab, cobra and crown to base, 2024-1700 B.C.; tilapia fish, symbol of regeneration, c.1300 B.C.; Taweret hippopotamus goddess of child birth, c.1300 B.C.; sphinx amulet, c.1300 B.C; alabaster kohl jar fragment sticks, c.1400 B.C.; Djed pillar amulet, c.600-300 B.C.; stone playing counter, c.300-50 B.C.; two fruit amulets, c.18th-19th Dynasty; fragment of a large Eye of Horus, c.600 B.C.; Eye of Horus amulet with nfr sign on reverse, c. 1000 B.C. 66.8 grams total, 8-39 mm
From an old UK collection. From the private collection of Alf Baxendale (1941-2016) part 2, keen Egyptologist, member of the Egyptology Society, trustee of the Amarna Trust; thence by descent. Accompanied by twelve identification display cards. Accompanied by a copy of his obituary published in Horizon, The Amarna Project and Amarna Trust newsletter, Issue 18, 2017, p.21, by Barry John Kemp, CBE, FBA, Professor Emeritus of Egyptology at the University of Cambridge and directing excavations at Amarna in Egypt. -
Coptic Kohl Container
6th-7th century A.D.Estimate: £1,200 - 1,700 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £600
A heavily carved wooden kohl vessel, tubular with pierced lateral flanges and rectangular base with a stub foot to each corner; with old collector's label reading 'Coptic kohol container VI-VIII C. OFRA10P / Q Louvre Cat. des Bois de l'Egypte Copte, Paris 1986 no.39-41'. 129 grams, 19.5 cm
Acquired in the late 1980s-early 1990s. Important North West London collection. -
Egyptian Blue Faience Ibis Amulet
Ptolemaic Period, 1550-1070 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £156
A glazed composition amuletic pendant of an ibis standing on a rectangular base, its curved beak resting on its chest. 4.25 grams, 28 mm
From a UK private collection, 1975-1978.
