Egyptian Bronze Figure of the God Osiris

Wide tunic fragment in coarse linen and purple-violet wool with animal figures enclosed within an orbiculi, the central part of the fragment featuring a geometric decoration of stars and lozenges; mounted on cardboard backing. 45 grams total, 22 cm



Acquired 1970s-1996. Property of a North American collector. London collection, 2016.

Among the many fragments from wool tunics, there are several long strips that match to form nearly full-length central pectoral clavi. They are patterned with a profusion of small figures or interlaced abstract designs, birds, plants and animals, with a contrasting border filled with geometric motifs.

Bulbous in profile, with a short, broad neck, a rolled rim, and an angled handle; obverse with a moulded mask of Bes, with lentoid eyes and a hatched face. 140 grams, 68 mm



From the private collection of Peter Clayton, FCILIP, Dip, Arch, FSA, FRNS, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, UK; formed since the late 1950s.

Bes, a dwarf deity primarily of the household, was a powerful apotropaic entity who warded off evil spirits, guarded homes, and protected vulnerable family members, especially pregnant women and infants. Bes vessels were thought to imbue their contents with healing properties. Chemical analysis of some Graeco-Roman Bes vessels shows they held hallucinogenic, medicinal, and alcoholic blends explicitly tied to pregnancy rituals and ritual intoxication. During the Graeco-Roman period, mould-made figure vessels and terracotta figurines became very common. By contrast, earlier eras produced almost none of these vessels; only one ceramic example is known from the New Kingdom, and none from the Third Intermediate or Late periods. These mass-produced terracottas allowed non-elites to venerate cult images at home altars or leave them as accessible votive offerings at local sanctuaries.

Amuletic pendant with the deity's characteristic hybrid animal elements, dominated by its hippopotamus head, with a plain dorsal pillar with a loop. 16.58 grams, 61 mm



Received as a gift from archaeologist Cyril Aldred, April 1970, when expecting their son Rupert. 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.124.

Taweret is an ancient Egyptian goddess associated with fertility, childbirth, motherhood, and protecting women during pregnancy and labour. She is depicted as a composite being with animal features and stands out as one of the most distinctive and striking deities in the Egyptian pantheon. Taweret’s name derives from the Egyptian word for "great" or "large" (tꜣwꜣrt), emphasising her formidable and protective nature. Cyril Aldred (1914-1991) was a British Egyptologist and art historian who served at the Royal Scottish Museum, Edinburgh, from 1937 until his retirement in 1974. He published widely on Egyptian art, including Old Kingdom Art in Ancient Egypt (1949) and Akhenaten, Pharaoh of Egypt (1968), and became a leading authority on Amarna Period art, notably through his 1973 Brooklyn Museum exhibition catalogue, Akhenaten and Nefertiti.