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Details
LOT 0493
Egyptian Coptic Bone Items
3RD-6TH CENTURY A.D.
1 1/4 - 1 5/8 in. (9.45 grams total, 32-43 mm).
Comprising: a tapering plano-convex section body with D-shaped face, nose and mouth; tag or lace-end with carved female bust. [2, No Reserve]
Provenance
From the collection of a gentleman, acquired on the London art market in the 1990s.
This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.
Literature
Cf. Shatil, A., ‘Bone figurines of the early Islamic period: the so-called “Coptic dolls” from Palestine and Egypt’, in Vitezović, S. (ed), Close to the Bone: current studies in bone technologies, Belgrade, 2016, for a discussion of the emergence of Coptic bone figurines, including examples similar to the larger figurine.
Footnotes
The smaller item is possibly the finial from a decorative hair pin (Cf. Petrie, W.M.F., Objects of Daily Use, Warminster, 1972, pl. XIX, no. 81, for a complete example).
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