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LOT 0483
Egyptian Coptic Textile Fragment Group
CIRCA 4TH-5TH CENTURY A.D.
3 3/8 - 7 5/8 in. (58 grams total including package, 8.6-19.5 cm).
Comprising: a fragment of a clavus in coarse linen and dark brown wool, tapestry, with remains of a medallion embroidered with a lion running right; fragment of an orbiculus in linen and yellow and blue wool, S torsion, embroidered with vegetal and geometric patterns; two terminal fragments of a clavi, in red, green, dark blue and white wool. [4, No Reserve]
ProvenanceAcquired 1970s-1996.
Property of a North American collector.
London collection, 2016.
Cf. Del Francia Barocas, L., Antinoe, Cent’anni dopo,catalogo della mostra, Firenze, Palazzo Medici Riccardi, 10 Luglio – 1 novembre 1998 p.77, for a similar textile with a running lion.
FootnotesThese are decorative parts of tunics. The lion orbiculus in particular stands out for its delicate design and hunting theme. Dionysus and his entourage were often depicted on these tunics, despite the fact that these fabrics were produced in a by then heavily Christianised empire.
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AUCTIONS:
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A slender standing figure of Osiris in iconic mummiform appearance, wearing the tall conical Atef crown with its flanking ostrich plumes, and central uraeus, a long, internally detailed divine beard, and holding the crook (heka) and flail (nekhakha) regalia. 17.5 grams, 62 mm
From the collection of a gentleman, acquired on the London art market in the 1990s. -
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Large Egyptian Red Stone Scarab
Late Period, 664-332 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £468
Plano-convex in section, carved in the half-round scarab with segmented carapace; underside plain. 56.6 grams, 42 mm
with Archaeologia, Switzerland, before 1983. Ex private North American collection. London private collection, 2016. -
Egyptian Yellow Faience Bastet Cat Amulet
New Kingdom, circa 1550-1070 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £715
Figure of Bastet as a cat with pointed ears, seated on a rectangular base with a rounded end; suspension loop on the back, ear repaired. 2.51 grams, 26 mm
Ex London gallery and Belinda Elliston, a member of the Egyptian Exploration Society, 1940s onwards.
In ancient Egypt, the cat was venerated as the sacred animal of the goddess Bastet, whose principal cult centre was Bubastis in the Nile Delta. Although cats were once part of folk practice, their veneration as part of formal cults spread across Egypt during the Late Period. Bastet was closely linked to lion-headed goddesses like Sekhmet, Tefnut, and Pakhet, and the cat itself became associated with solar imagery: the Book of the Dead portrays the sun god as a Great Cat vanquishing Apophis beneath the sacred Ished Tree. The cat could also embody the Eye of the Sun or, more often in Bastet’s case, the Eye of the Moon. Mummified cats were frequently dedicated as votive offerings, and some of their feline-shaped coffins were adorned with finely crafted bronze heads to enhance their divine likeness.
