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LOT 0032
Egyptian Bust of Ptah
LATE PERIOD, 26TH-30TH DYNASTY, CIRCA 664-343 B.C.
8 3/4 in. (1.39 kg total, 22.3 cm high including stand).
A white limestone figure of the god Ptah with false beard, wearing an enveloping cloak and a broad wesekh-collar, holding the shaft of a was sceptre; serene, oval face with almond-shaped eyes and fleshy lips; remnants of dorsal pillar to reverse; mounted on a custom-made display stand.
ProvenanceEx private Belgium collection, 1960s.
with Vanderkindere Auctions, Brussels, Belgium, 26 February 2013, lot 261.
English private collection.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.11605-199743.
Accompanied by a scholarly note by Egyptologist Paul Whelan.
Cf. The Walters Museum, accession number 54.1017, for a similar figure in bronze created within this time period.
FootnotesPtah is attested from the beginning of ancient Egypt’s dynastic history and was a creator god, a god of craftsmen, and the patron deity of the Memphite region. The principal temple of the god was located in the city of Memphis.
The fragmentary back pillar on this statuette indicates that it was most probably a temple offering, originally inscribed with an invocation to Ptah together with the donor’s name. Such votive figurines with back pillars naming the god and the dedicator occur in various materials, including faience and stone.
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AUCTIONS:
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Egyptian Faience Figure of Thoth
26th Dynasty, 664-525 B.C.Estimate: £4,000 - 6,000 (‡+bp*)
Opening Bid: £2,000
A pale green glazed composition figure of Thoth in ibis-head form, plain dorsal pillar, pleated kilt, tripartite wig; old collector's inked accession number 'E.1000' to the reverse; repaired. 44.7 grams, 88 mm high
Ex Roger Liechti collection, Geneva, Switzerland. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.11595-199013.
One of the most prominent of the ancient Egyptian gods, Thoth was associated with writing, magic and wisdom, and was credited with founding a number of branches of knowledge including law, religion and science. He is believed to have been self-created or grown from the seed of Horus from the forehead of Set. As the son of the gods of order and chaos, he was also the god of equilibrium. As such, he was considered a just and infallible judge. Worshipped from the Pre-Dynastic to the Ptolemaic Period, Thoth was one of the longest, continuously worshipped gods from any civilisation. Thoth's Egyptian name was Djehuty (also dhwty) meaning ‘He Who is Like the Ibis’, a sacred bird in ancient Egypt as well as a popular pet associated with wisdom. -
Egyptian Seated Monkey Kohl Pot
New Kingdom, 1225-1070 B.C.Estimate: £1,800 - 2,400 (‡+bp*)
Opening Bid: £900
A carved steatite monkey holding a kohl pot of roughly cylindrical form; set on an integral oval base; rim of kohl perforated twice; mounted on a custom-made display base. 21.2 grams total, 37 mm high including stand
with François de Riqules, Archéologie, 11-12 November 2001, lot 198. -
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Egyptian Bronze Oxyrhynchus Fish Figure
Late Period, 664-332 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £702
A bronze votive oxyrhynchus fish on a sledge base; the fish with inlaid eyes (now missing), hatched dorsal fin, hatched and engraved usekh collar, disc and horned crown fronted by sacred uraeus; suspension loop behind. 163 grams, 85 mm wide
Acquired 1980s. Private collection of L.H., Staffordshire, UK. Property of a Sussex, UK, teacher.
The oxyrhynchus fish was sacred to the goddess Hathor, and was often depicted wearing her crown on its head, an image that may have reproduced an actual temple cult statue. It was also connected to the myth of god Osiris, believed to have eaten his penis after god Seth had dismembered and scattered the god's body. The fish was worshipped under the name Medjed.
