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LOT 0494
Egyptian Bull-Headed Apis Shabti Head
NEW KINGDOM, RAMESSIDE PERIOD, 1295-1069 B.C.
2 3/8 in. (34 grams, 60 mm).
A glazed composition shabti fragment representing the head of a bull surmounted by a sun-disc between its horns, wearing a lappet wig and with human arms crossed over the chest; the missing lower portion continued the shape of a mummiform human body; the back of the figure
flat and bearing faint traces of inscription, the opening begins with a common shabti introduction which appears to be followed (as would be expected) by the name of syncretic deity Osiris Apis.
Acquired early 1990s.
Ex private American collection; thence by descent.
Private collection since 1998.
Accompanied by a scholarly note by Egyptologist Paul Whelan.
Cf. Mariette, A., Le Sérapéum de Memphis, Paris 1857, pl. 22, no. 11; Musée du Louvre, Paris, inventory number S 1823, for a similar fragment.
FootnotesThe figure comes from the catacombs at Saqqara where the sacred Apis bulls were buried, known today as the Serapeum. The Apis bull was associated principally with the gods Ptah, patron deity of Memphis, and Osiris, and when one died it was afforded the kind of lavish burial
befitting a pharaoh. All bull-headed shabtis date to the 19th and 20th Dynasties and were left as offerings beside the huge granite sarcophagi of the deified bulls. These shabtis were among hundreds of objects recovered from the catacombs by Auguste Mariette during his excavations there between 1850-1853. The Musée du Louvre in Paris holds the largest collection of artefacts from the Serapeum outside Egypt, including around 120 Apis shabtis. They reveal that the this fragment with its sun-disc is from a rare variant of this shabti type; just 5 of the Louvre examples have sun-discs (S 1823, N 5234 51-54), the remaining shabtis have a bull’s head with short stubby horns and no sun-disc.
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Egyptian Djed Pillar Amulet
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Opening Bid: £1,250
A large finely-made wooden amuletic djed pillar; old collector's accession number 'E.436' to underside; mounted on a custom-made display stand. 106 grams, 17 cm high
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The djed pillar symbolises stability and is usually understood to be the spine of the god Ptah although its origins are more probably in cult practices involving sheaves of reeds which were revered due to the general absence of trees from the Egyptian landscape. The djed later came to be symbolise Seker, the falcon god of Memphis and Ptah, the Memphite god of craftsmen, who carried a sceptre formed as a combination of the djed and the ankh. The cult of Ptah waned and gave way to that of Osiris so that by the New Kingdom (16th century B.C.), the djed had become associated with Osiris, part of whose cult included a ceremony for raising the djed representing Osiris's triumph over Seth. -
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Egyptian Bronze Figure of Ptah
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Ptah was the god of Egypt's capital city Memphis and master craftsman of the gods, known for his benevolent and approachable character.
