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LOT 0015
Egyptian Blue-Glazed Faience Blue Lotus Chalice
NEW KINGDOM-THIRD INTERMEDIATE PERIOD, CIRCA 1504-935 B.C.
6 1/4 in. (126 grams, 16 cm).
With a tall, flaring cup rounded at the base, attached to a short stem supported on a flared foot; the outside of the cup decorated with petals modelled in relief and a ribbed rim; the stem and foot plain; some restoration.
ProvenanceAcquired 1970s-1996.
Property of a North American collector.
London collection, 2016.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.12099-214088.
Cf. Eggebrecht, A., Ägyptens Aufstieg zur Weltmacht, Mainz, 1987, 326, no. 279, for a similar chalice.
FootnotesFaience chalices shaped like the flowers of the blue lotus (Nymphaea caerulea) first appeared in the 18th Dynasty. The blue lotus chalices were believed to have been used for cultic or votive purposes in temples or in rituals offered to the dead. Known as 'Seshen' by the ancient Egyptians, the blue lotus was a symbol of solar concepts associated with rebirth, probably because its flowers opened in the morning and closed at night. Hence, it is not surprising to find that the lotus was prominently featured in ancient Egyptian funerary art, particularly in banqueting scenes honouring the deceased, and in bouquets that adorned the coffin and bier of the deceased. It is also believed that the flower petals were used to make perfume, and that the ancient Egyptians took advantage of the lotus's narcotic properties. The extracted essence was added to wine to enhance its pleasurable effects, as depicted in banqueting scenes with intoxicated guests.
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LOT 0015
Egyptian Blue-Glazed Faience Blue Lotus Chalice
Sold for (Inc. bp): £9,360
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Phoenician Bronze Statuette of a Naked Female
6th-4th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £169
Modeled in the round with arms folded across the abdomen, standing nude on a square base. 107 grams, 94 mm
Acquired in Egypt by Lieutenant James Alexander Goodman in the 1920s. Thence by descent to his grandson.
Lieutenant Goodman served in the 4th Battalion Welsh Regiment during World War I and saw action in Palestine during the capture of Bethlehem, (for which he won an MC). After the war, he setup a business selling Fordson trucks and tractors in Alexandria, Egypt. A keen antiquarian, he collected ancient objects during his time in Alexandria and when he visited the pyramids at Giza. After his first marriage failed, he returned to the UK in the early 1930s. On his death in 1959, he passed his small collection of Egyptian objects on to his second wife, Ruby Goodman. On Ruby’s death in 1994, they were left to their second daughter, Rosemary Johnson, (née Goodman), and are currently in the possession of her son. -
Egyptian Bronze and Glass Inlaid Ostrich Feather from an Atef Crown
Late Period-Ptolemaic Period, circa 664-30 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £650
Stylised ostrich plume surmounting a ram's horn, uraeus with sun disk to one side; side tang and loop on the underside for attachment; the plume decorated with a series of narrow horizontal recesses to accept inlays, with some original remaining as well as later replacements in blue glass. 244 grams total, 18.5 cm
UK private collection of Werner Forman (1921-2010), formed between 1950-1980.
The atef crown consists of a central element similar to the hedjet or White Crown, flanked by two ostrich feathers, often with a pair of ram's horns beneath and uraei on either side. The meaning of atef is uncertain, but it may mean either 'his might' or 'his terror'. The crown first appeared in the 5th Dynasty and is particularly associated with the underworld god Osiris. -
Egyptian Faience Mummy Bead Mask with Scarab and Four Sons of Horus
Ptolemaic Period, 332-30 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £316
A netted beadwork panel of annular and tubular glazed composition beads in blues, greens, black, cream and red-brown colours, depicting a mummy face mask with false beard, a scarab with extended wings below, the 'Four Sons of Horus’ beneath the scarab, joined together with areas of open netting of tubular beads; restrung with some later beads. 58 grams, 25.5 cm
Ex Mariaud de Serres, Paris, France, 1980-1990s. From a London, UK, collection.
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 protects the intestines and, finally, the jackal-headed Duamutef on the right (note his erect ears are indicated), who protected the stomach. These internal organs were often placed in canopic jars with the head of the respective Son of Horus. Amulets depicting these deities were placed within the mummy wrappings.
