Egyptian Blue Faience Cup

Sizeable wedjat-eye amulet with applied black detailing to the pupil and brow. 16.5 grams, 50.4 mm



with Archaeologia, Switzerland, before 1983. Ex private North American collection. London private collection, 2016.

The wedjat-eye amulet symbolises the healed eye of the god Horus, representing both human and falcon elements. The name wedjat in ancient Egyptian means ‘the one that is sound.’ According to Egyptian mythology, Horus' eye was wounded or taken by the god Seth and later restored by Thoth. The wedjat-eye amulet was believed to protect its wearer and confer qualities of recovery and regeneration. It was highly popular and was used by both the living and the dead.

Modelled in the round, with a dorsal pillar and a loop at the shoulder, the goddess in hippopotamus form, with a human torso, arms and a crocodile tail. 7.9 grams, 50 mm



Private collection, Carouge, Switzerland, assembled in the 1980s-1990s. Thence by descent to the collection of Mr S.P., since 2020.

Proof etching on laid paper of plate 79 from Vol .I of Description de l'Égypte : ou, Recueil des observations et des recherches qui ont été faites en Égypte pendant l'expédition de l'armée française. entitled Esné (Latopolis) Zodiaque sculpté au plafond du portique. 187 grams, 105 x 70 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 Temple of Khnum at Esna in Upper Egypt has elements from the New Kingdom, but most of it dates to the Ptolemaic and Roman periods. This elaborate zodiac dates to the reign of Ptolemy III.