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LOT 0035
Egyptian Bronze Figure of a Shrew
LATE-PTOLEMAIC PERIOD, 664-30 B.C.
1 7/8 in. (145 grams, 73 mm).
Modelled in the round in a crouching pose on a rectangular base with an attachment peg.
ProvenanceFrom the collection of a gentleman, acquired on the London art market in the 1990s.
LiteratureCf. Roeder, G., Ägyptische Bronzefiguren II, Berlin, 1956, pl. 54g, for similar.
FootnotesThis figure most likely comes from a shrew coffin or votive statuette. The dwarf shrew (Crocidura nana) and Flower’s shrew (Crocidura floweri) were among many animal species buried in dedicated cemeteries across various parts of Egypt. Ironically, these tiny creatures symbolised Horus in his raptor-headed form — a figure who, in reality, would have preyed upon them. Shrews were associated with Khenty-irty, the “seeing-and-blind god,” due to their ability to navigate darkness. It may be possible to read the shrew’s symbolism as that of seeking light in darkness, representing the Egyptian belief in the deceased’s journey through the hours of the night before rebirth at dawn. Radiographic analysis of a bundle containing about twenty-one shrews shows that they were dried whole, with no evisceration, preserved by being ‘pickled’ in natron.
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AUCTIONS:
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Phoenician Inscribed Bronze Scaraboid Seal
600-400 B.C.Estimate: £100 - 140 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £40
With ribbed loop and ellipsoid face, gryphon motif. 10.9 grams, 26 mm wide
Ex London, UK, gentleman, 1990. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato. -
Egyptian Eye of Horus Amulet
Late Period, 664-332 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £78
Wedjat amuletic bead with applied black detailing to the pupil and brow. 4 grams, 30.8 mm
with Archaeologia, Switzerland, before 1983. Ex private North American collection. London private collection, 2016. -
Egyptian Coptic Textile Fragment Group
Circa 4th-6th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £260
Comprising: fragment of a segmentum in red and coarse linen, S torsion, embroidered with geometric motifs; fragment of another segmentum in red, yellow, blue and green wool, with representations of buds within a red frame; a small tabula in purple wool over linen background, embroidered with a stylised image of Pegasus; a double segmenta, in purple over linen, embroidered with wave motif. 66 grams total including package, 7.8-20.5 cm
Acquired 1970s-1996. Property of a North American collector. London collection, 2016.
These are pieces of extraordinary finesse in both material and design. They all probably were once applied as a decoration of various garments, such as tunics, cloaks, and shawls.
