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LOT 0404
Egyptian Blue-Glazed Faience White Lotus Chalice
NEW KINGDOM-THIRD INTERMEDIATE PERIOD, 1315-945 B.C.
4 3/4 in. (205 grams, 12.1 cm).
The lotiform cup modelled as an open lotus flower with incised petal detailing to the outer face, short stem and flared foot; 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 number no.12937-243177.
Cf. Freed, R., et al., Egypt’s Golden Age, the Art of Living in the New Kingdom, 1558-1085 B.C, Boston, 1982, p.147, no.147, for a similar pale blue faience white lotus chalice; S., Reeves, N., and Quirke, S., Egyptian Art at Eton College: Selections from the Myers Museum, Windsor/New York, 1999, p.39, no.56, for a squatter version of this chalice style in deep blue faience.
FootnotesFaience chalices shaped like the flowers of the white lotus (Nymphaea albicans) first appeared in the 18th Dynasty and are believed to be drinking vessels.
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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 0404
Egyptian Blue-Glazed Faience White Lotus Chalice
Estimate £4,000 - 6,000€4,640 - 6,960 (for guidance only)$5,400 - 8,100 (for guidance only)
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Egypto-Phoenician Faience Amulet Group
4th-2nd century B.C. and laterSold for (Inc. bp): £234
Comprising flat discs with perforations and a trussed duck with its head laid along its spine. 18.74 grams total, 15-30 mm
From the collection of a gentleman, acquired on the London art market in the 1990s. -
Framed Egyptian Faience Eye of Horus Amulet
Late Period-Ptolemaic Period, 664-30 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £65
The amulet in blue-green faience with black detailing, set in a glazed wooden frame with modern papyrus backing. 207 grams total, 12.2 x 12.3 cm including frame
Acquired from Ancient Art, London, UK. From the collection of a Nottingham, UK, collector, established from the early 2000s. Accompanied by the original Ancient Art certificate of authenticity. -
Egyptian Gold Necklace with Harpocrates Pendant
Roman Period, 1st century B.C.-1st century A.D.Estimate: £15,000 - 20,000 (‡+bp*)
Opening Bid: £7,500
Gold chain of double-looped links terminating in corrugated end elements, with hook-and-eye clasp; suspension ring embellished with applied granulation and a ribbed loop; hollow-formed sheet-gold pendant in the round depicting Harpocrates seated, his right forefinger raised to his mouth, wearing a finely detailed nemes headdress surmounted by a complex hemhem, crown incorporating multiple hedjet elements, flanking uraei, and ram's horns. 49.80 grams, 40.5 cm
Ex Elie Boustros collection, Lebanon. Private collection, acquired in the late 1980s-early 1990s; thence by descent. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13203-249297.
The fully three-dimensional modelling of the pendant aligns it with a group of high-quality Roman-period Egyptian goldwork characterised by pronounced plasticity and sculptural ambition. A pertinent comparison may be drawn with the gold diadem depicting Serapis from the Dush Treasure, discovered concealed within the wall of a Roman fort in the Baris Oasis (Reddé, M., Douch IV. Le trésor de Douch, DFIFAO 28, Cairo, 1992). That assemblage, plausibly associated with a nearby temple of Serapis and Isis, demonstrates a similarly bold treatment of divine imagery in precious metal. Comparable small-scale representations of Harpocrates in gold - often amuletic in function - are known from Roman Egypt, though examples combining such intricate crown iconography with fully rounded modelling remain relatively rare. The present piece therefore occupies an interesting position between personal adornment and cultic or apotropaic object, reflecting both Alexandrian iconographic synthesis and provincial workshop virtuosity. Harpocrates is the Greek version of the Egyptian Hor-pa-khered, which means ‘Horus the Child’. This name refers to Horus as the divine infant of Isis and Osiris. Wearing an amulet of Harpocrates was believed to provide the same protection that Isis offered to her beloved son.
