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_900x900.jpg "Egyptian Bronze Sistrum with Bes and Hathor")
_200x200.jpg "Egyptian Bronze Sistrum with Bes and Hathor")
_900x900.jpg "Egyptian Bronze Sistrum with Bes and Hathor")
_200x200.jpg "Egyptian Bronze Sistrum with Bes and Hathor")
.jpg "Egyptian Bronze Sistrum with Bes and Hathor")
.jpg "Egyptian Bronze Sistrum with Bes and Hathor")
LOT 0030
Egyptian Bronze Sistrum with Bes and Hathor
ROMAN PERIOD, 30 B.C.-323 A.D.
15 1/2 in. (1.52 kg, 39.5 cm).
The large liturgical rattle with a columnar handle composed of a bifacial figure of Bes standing on a lotus capital, flanked by seated sphinxes, his feathered crown supporting the bust of goddess Hathor wearing a broad collar and a curling wig, two rearing uraei emerging from the sides to support the base of the rattle, both wearing the pschent crown, above the cobras a standing figure of the goddess Hathor in cow form, wearing a tripartite wig and a sun disc between the horns; the rattle with a looped body with flared outer rims and set with three metal rods to accept metal discs, a pair of reclining lions to the base and the top with three felines surrounding a cockerel, and resting one of their front paws on the bird.
ProvenanceGerman art market.
European private collection, 1970s-early 2000s.
Acquired from the above; thence by descent.
Private collection, London, UK.
Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D’Amato.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.12348-225588.
Cf. Lacovara, P. et al., The Collector’s Eye: Masterpieces of Egyptian Art from The Thalassic Collection, Atlanta, 2001, for a sistrum with a Bes figure incorporated into the handle; see a late Egyptian prototype of a bronze sistrum with handle in the shape of the god Bes, 30th Dynasty, c. 350 B.C. (Neues Museum, Berlin); see a Roman sistrum in MET, accession no.97.22.2; a bronze sistrum, in the British Museum, inv.no.1756,0101.541; Daremberg, C.V. & Saglio, E. (eds.), Dictionnaire des Antiquités Grecques et Romaines, Paris, 1873-1917.
FootnotesThe sistrum (seshesh in ancient Egyptian) was a rattle-like musical instrument, played exclusively by women in religious ceremonies. It was often decorated with the bust of the goddess Hathor to whom the sistrum was sacred. Their use continued into the Roman period in ceremonies associated with the cult of Isis.
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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 0030
Egyptian Bronze Sistrum with Bes and Hathor
Sold for (Inc. bp): £14,950
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Egyptian Lapis Lazuli Amulet with Cartouche
New Kingdom, 1539-1075 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £143
Rectangular in section with longitudinal piercing, hieroglyphic text. 1.38 grams, 16 mm
Acquired on the UK art market before 2000. Property of an Essex, UK, gentleman. -
Egyptian Silver Poppy Beads
Late Period, 664-332 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £124
Modelled in the shape of a poppy seed with a flat foot leading to a globular body with a tapering neck attached to a small loop at the top for suspension. 3.29 grams total, 16-17 mm
From an early 20th century collection.
Amulets in the form of poppies were used to heal and alleviate pain and to ward off death. These types of amulets were also linked to Osiris, the Egyptian deity of agriculture, death, and the afterlife. -
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Egyptian Silver Isis and Horus Amulet
Late Period, 664-332 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £234
Isis enthroned wearing a cow's horn headdress with a solar disc, suckling the infant Horus on her lap; loop to rear of crown; mounted on a custom-made stand. 6.2 grams, 39 mm (20.7 grams total, 62 mm including stand)
Ex Mythes & Legend. Ex Cohen collection 2011. Property of a French collector.
In ancient Egyptian mythology, Isis was the sister-wife of Osiris and the mother of the sky god Horus. She is associated with aspects of fertility and motherhood and is often depicted in various artworks seated in a nursing pose with her son Horus on her lap, as here.
