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Details
LOT 0477
Egyptian Bronze Eye Inlay
LATE PERIOD, 664-332 B.C.
2 3/8 in. (33 grams, 62 mm).
Comprising a bronze frame with a delicately modelled tear duct, inset with a white hardstone scalera and a large black glass pupil.
Provenance
Ex AB collection, 1920s-1930s.
Accompanied by an old collection ticket.
Literature
Cf. Lacovara, P., Teasley Trope, B., and D’Auria, S.H., The Collector’s Eye: Masterpieces of Egyptian Art from The Thalassic Collection, Ltd., Atlanta, 2001, p.120, no.70, for similar inlaid eyes with faience frames.
Footnotes
Mummy masks were used as a protection over the deceased and were first introduced during the First Intermediate Period. The eyes were thought to fend off evil by reflecting it back to the one bestowing it.
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