Egyptian Bronze Bell with Faces

Oblate type with an impressed cartouche recording the sixth Heb-Sed (jubilee) of Ramesses II. 27.4 grams, 46 mm



Acquired 7th February 1962. From the private collection of Peter Clayton, FCILIP, Dip, Arch, FSA, FRNS, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, UK; formed since the late 1950s. Accompanied by an old handwritten information card by Peter Clayton, collection no.85.

By the time of Ramesses II, the royal Heb-Sed festival was already about two thousand years old. He celebrated his first Heb-Sed in his 30th year and his sixth in his 45th year.

Crafted from banded calcite or alabaster, the vessel is characterised by a barrel-shaped profile, broad shoulders, a short, flared neck, a rounded base, and two lateral loop handles near the shoulders, with a localised row of incised hieroglyphs around the upper shoulder, naming a priest of Amun, Nespakhashuty, and a partially preserved filiation that may be restored as Djed[djehuty-]iu-[ef-]ankh. 420 grams, 37 cm



Formerly in a private collection, Beirut, Lebanon, 1990s. Swiss private collection, acquired from Mr H., Geneva, 2010. Accompanied by a copy of an Art Loss Register certificate, no.S00059830 This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13221-249178.

Nespakhashuty and Djed-djehuty-iu-ef-ankh are names associated with a powerful family dynasty from the late New Kingdom to the end of the Third Intermediate Period. The vessel’s style supports a Third Intermediate Period dating, as it compares with a similarly large example inscribed with the cartouches of the 22nd Dynasty pharaoh Osorkon I (Montet, P., Les constructions et le tombeau d’Osorkon II à Tanis, Paris, 1947, p. 82, pl. XLVI). In the Phoenician necropolises of Andalusia, the deceased's ashes were enclosed in luxurious alabaster urns of Egyptian manufacture. At Almuñécar, for example, some urns in the Phoenician necropolis preserved inscriptions and emblems of various Egyptian pharaohs, who ruled the Nile region between the 16th and 8th centuries B.C. Alabaster vessels of this type, originally containing fine wines, have been discovered, albeit in smaller numbers, in the royal palaces of Assur and Samaria in the East, as part of war booty or gifts exchanged between royal houses.

Ovoid in plan and biconvex in section, low-relief frog image on the discus, starburst on the underside; old collector's note: 'Very light buff coloured frog lamp. Exact type as illustrated in Bailey, [?] Roman pottery lamps. B.17.1963 pl. 14 d. Decorated base. 3-4th century A.D. Found in Alexandria. From Puys-Aubert collection in Alexandria. March 1963.' 71 grams, 81 mm



From the private collection of Peter Clayton, FCILIP, Dip, Arch, FSA, FRNS, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, UK; formed since the late 1950s. Accompanied by an old handwritten identification card written by Peter Clayton.