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LOT 0011
Egyptian Blue-Glazed Faience Chalice
EARLY THIRD INTERMEDIATE PERIOD, CIRCA 1050 B.C.
5 in. (104 grams, 12.5 cm high).
A blue-glazed faience chalice representing the blue lotus flower with a tall, flaring cup rounded at the base, short stem with a flared foot; held in a lockable wooden presentation box with key; restored.
ProvenanceAcquired from Dr Jan Beekmans, circa 1982.
UK private collection.
Accompanied by an academic report by Egyptologist Paul Whelan.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.11599-198342.
Cf. The British Museum, museum number EA4801 'Blue glazed composition (faience) drinking-cup, in the form of a stemmed lotus flower', for similar; cf. The Metropolitan Museum, accession number 26.7.972, for similar; Walters Art Gallery, inventory no.48.416, for similar.
FootnotesIt is thought that blue lotus chalices served cultic or votive roles in temples or in offering rituals to the dead, and the white lotus versions were used as drinking vessels. Called Seshen by the ancient Egyptians, the blue lotus symbolised solar concepts surrounding rebirth- possibly because its flowers open their petals in the morning and close them again at night. Given this connection, it is not surprising to find that the lotus features prominently in ancient Egyptian funerary art, in banqueting scenes honouring the dead and in bouquets adorning the coffin and its bier. It is thought that the petals were used to make perfume and that the ancient Egyptians exploited the lotus's narcotic properties and added its extracted essence to wine to enhance the pleasurable effects of the drink, as can be seen in banqueting scenes.
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Egyptian Thoth as an Ibis with Maat
Ptolemaic Period, 332-30 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £6,500
A blue-glazed composition amulet in the form of an ibis (representing the god Thoth) seated on a wedge-shaped base, facing a figure of Maat appearing as a diminutive stooping female with an ostrich feather; some details to both figures rendered in a darker blue glaze; suspension loop to the rear of the bird's neck. 9.15 grams, 37 mm
Acquired from Dr Jan Beekmans, circa 1984. UK private collection.
Maat and the moon god Thoth, husband and wife, together embody wisdom and cosmic order. As a divine couple, they served the sun god, Re. Like Thoth, the ancient Egyptians connected the ibis with the moon, owing to its crescent moon-shaped beak. The ibis was well known in antiquity for its refusal to drink unhealthy and poisoned water, or to kill poisonous reptiles, and set mankind an example of cleanliness; thus, like the god Thoth, the ibis offered protection against dangerous forces and served as a model for purity and good sense. Maat embodies the order that Thoth protects. Her symbol, an ostrich feather, references a bird that inhabits desert and savannah habitats, although it must never wander too far away from rivers and lakes. The ostrich cannot fly, but it is a fast runner and a strong fighter. -
Egyptian Tell el Amarna Artefact Collection
New Kingdom, 18th Dynasty, 1350-1334 A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £182
A group of five ceramic fragments from Tell el Amarna, comprising: a bread mould fragment with one rounded face, believed to originate from the Small Aten Temple; a decorated blue ware fragment featuring a polychrome painted geometric design; a fragment believed to have come from the King's House, Tell el Amarna; a probable miniature vessel with foot and chipped rim. 711 grams total, 5.2-14.4 cm
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 three 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. -
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1st millennium B.C. and laterSold for (Inc. bp): £312
A mixed group of mainly composition, glass, shell and stone polychrome beads of various types and dates. 167 grams total, 2-26 mm
Acquired in the 1970s. Important European collection.
