Egyptian Blue Glazed Faience Shabti

Scarab with incised detailing on the upper face; underside featuring incised hieroglyphs, including addorsed hawks and right-angled netjer signs; pierced longitudinally. 3.79 grams, 21 mm



Ex A. H. collection, 1990s.

Pale yellow, turquoise, and blue faience seated cat figures, each shown on a base plinth and with a suspension loop behind the head. 83 grams total, 47-52 mm including stands



Collection of a Lady, circa 1940. From a specialist collection.

In ancient Egypt, the cat was revered as the sacred animal of the goddess Bastet, whose main cult centre was Bubastis in the Nile Delta. Although cats were once part of folk customs, their formal worship expanded across Egypt during the Late Period. Bastet was closely connected to lion-headed goddesses such as Sekhmet, Tefnut, and Pakhet, and the cat itself became linked to solar imagery: the Book of the Dead depicts the sun god as a Great Cat defeating Apophis beneath the sacred Ished Tree. The cat could also represent the Eye of the Sun or, more commonly in Bastet’s case, the Eye of the Moon. Mummified cats were often offered as votive offerings, and some were decorated with finely crafted bronze heads to emphasise their divine likeness.

Standing falcon-headed deity with eyes inlaid in gold, wearing the traditional shendyt kilt, a tripartite wig topped by the double crown (pa-sekhemty) fronted by a uraeus, as worn by Egyptian pharaohs, and a wesekh collar; the figure depicted striding forward, with the position of the left arm and drilled hand indicating that it originally held the shaft of a sceptre or a weapon; the right hand also drilled to hold an attribute; the rectangular base featuring a low-relief depiction of an oryx beneath the god’s feet, the four sides of the base bear a line of hieroglyphic invocation giving the name of the deity represented by the statuette and those of the dedicator and his family; two tenons on underside for attachment; mounted on a custom-made display stand. 1.1 kg total, 23 cm high including stand



with Sakae Art Gallery, Nagoya, Japan, 1981. Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Alberto Pollastrini. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.13161-248074.

The hieroglyphic inscription surrounding the base is worn and difficult to interpret. Based on the formulas preserved on similar statuettes, a tentative interpretation of its meaning can be proposed. The text begins with the customary formula ḏd mdw, meaning “words to be spoken,” followed by the hieroglyph of a falcon, indicating that the deity addressed is Horus. The following signs are unclear, making it hard to identify which specific form of Horus is meant, possibly Horus of Hebenu or Horus the Elder. The formula continues with a plea for the god to grant the dedicator life, prosperity, health, longevity, and a good old age. The inscription ends with the name of the offerer: “Pa-iu, son of Pa-di-Aset; his mother Ta-heret; and his wife Aset, justified.”