Egyptian Bright Blue Faience Shabti

Rectangular in plan with irregular left and lower edge; carved in low-relief in two registers with narrow border; lower register - plain with cream-white pigment; upper register – a combat or possibly post battle or tribute scene depicting two profile male heads with stern features, lentoid eye, strong mouth and chin, wearing brow-bands, probably Western Asiatics; with the leg of a kneeling(?) figure to the right; the reverse dressed but undecorated; two modern mounting holes to the long edge. 5.11 kg, 33 cm



Private collection, 1980s. Private European collection, 2008. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12853-241665. This lot has been cleared against the Art Loss Register database, and is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

Scenes of captured enemies and especially foreign envoys in audience with the pharaoh depict figures in various humiliating, supplicatory poses, including prostration and kneeling.

Modelled in the round on a sledge attached by ventral and pectoral fins; with forked tail, a dorsal ridge, and a tapering nose, featuring recessed circular eyes to accept an insert, a horned sun disc headdress fronted by a uraeus, and a suspension loop behind. 203 grams, 11.5 cm



From the collection of a gentleman, acquired on the London art market in the 1990s. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

Carved with ribbed body and eye detailing; drilled through the body for suspension. 0.34 grams, 10 mm



Ex London, UK, 1990s. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

Small fly amulets first appeared in burials during the Naqada II Period, c. 3200 B.C. These amulets grew in popularity and the materials used to make them expanded during the New Kingdom. They are crafted from a variety of materials such as gold, silver, lapis lazuli, carnelian, amethyst, faience, and bone. These amulets were thought to protect against insect bites and to ward off troublesome flying creatures through apotropaic magic. Some believe they may have even been intended to symbolise the fly’s fecundity. Additionally, pharaohs would bestow gold fly-shaped pendants as military awards to honour the bravery and fly-like persistence of soldiers in battle.