Loading, please wait...

Use mousewheel to zoom in and out, click to enlarge

Details

LOT 0024

Egyptian Bronze Figure of Ptah

LATE PERIOD-PTOLEMAIC PERIOD, 664-30 B.C.

5 1/4 in. (160 grams total, 13.5 cm including stand).

A bronze statuette of the god Ptah, wearing a tight-fitting mummiform garment and cap, standing on a rectangular base, detailing to his face, straight false beard and broad collar, his arms held in front of his chest, holding the was sceptre; lug to base; accompanied by a custom-made wooden display base.

Provenance

Acquired 1980s.
Private collection of L.H., Staffordshire, UK.
Property of a Sussex, UK, teacher.

Literature

Cf. The Metropolitan Museum, accession number 04.2.405, for similar; Tiribilli, E., The bronze figurines of the Petrie Museum from 2000 BC to AD 400, London, 2018, p.107 no.146, for a similarly detailed example from Saqqara.

Footnotes

Ptah was the god of Egypt's capital city Memphis and master craftsman of the gods, known for his benevolent and approachable character.

CONDITION

VETTING:

TimeLine Auctions follows a vetting process to ensure the authenticity and legality of all items, reinforcing our commitment to integrity and responsible trading. Each antiquity, antique, and coin lot undergoes thorough examination by a vetting committee of at least ten external specialists, professional trade association members, scientists, and archaeologists: Our Vetting Process


AUCTIONS:

TimeLine is a leading auction house specialising in antiquities, ancient art, collectables, natural history, coins, medals, and books. Our auctions offer museums, collectors, historians, and enthusiasts the opportunity to acquire unique and historically significant pieces.

LOT 0024

Egyptian Bronze Figure of Ptah

Sold for (Inc. bp): £936

Print page

RELATED LOTS

  • Egyptian Bronze Goddess Bastet as Seated Cat
    Egyptian Bronze Goddess Bastet as Seated Cat
    Late Period-Ptolemaic Period, 664-30 B.C.

    Sold for (Inc. bp): £975

    A bronze figure of the cat goddess Bastet, squatting poised and alert with her tail wrapped close to right side of her body, seated on a tongue-shaped base, short lug below; accompanied by a custom-made display base. 137 grams total, 10 cm high including stand



    Acquired 1980s. Private collection of L.H., Staffordshire, UK. Property of a Sussex, UK, teacher.

    Bastet was a powerful goddess of Lower Egypt, one who was protective and could bring about great prosperity. Cat statuettes were among some of the most common zoomorphic dedications of the Late and Ptolemaic Periods. Small statuettes like this one would have been dedicated as offerings to temples or deposited in catacombs alongside cat mummies, as at the extensive catacombs at Bubastis and Saqqara. Sometimes larger hollow examples held a cat mummy inside.

    Lot Details

  • Egyptian Bronze Beetle
    Egyptian Bronze Beetle
    Late Period, 664-525 B.C.

    Sold for (Inc. bp): £130

    A bronze horned beetle figure modelled in the round with semi-naturalistic anatomical detailing, its legs held tightly against its abdomen, possibly indicating that this is a beetle in a mummified form. 49.8 grams, 43 mm



    Acquired 1990s-2000s. From the collection of an Essex gentleman.

    Lot Details

  • Egyptian Palace of Amenophis III Painted Wall Plaster
    Egyptian Palace of Amenophis III Painted Wall Plaster
    New Kingdom, 18th Dynasty, 1386-1349 B.C.

    Sold for (Inc. bp): £117

    An amorphous plaster fragment from a wall of the palace of Amenophis III; polychrome painted motif to one face; from Malkata, Thebes. 17.6 grams, 50 mm



    From an old UK collection. From the private collection of Alf Baxendale (1941-2016) part 2, keen Egyptologist, member of the Egyptology Society, trustee of the Amarna Trust; thence by descent. Accompanied by an identification display card. Accompanied by a copy of his obituary published in Horizon, The Amarna Project and Amarna Trust newsletter, Issue 18, 2017, p.21, by Barry John Kemp, CBE, FBA, Professor Emeritus of Egyptology at the University of Cambridge and directing excavations at Amarna in Egypt.

    Lot Details

Stay up-to-date with the latest from TimeLine Auctions by joining our mailing list