Egyptian Coptic Textile Fragment Group

Proof etching on laid paper of plate 63 from Vol.II of Description de l'Égypte : ou, Recueil des observations et des recherches qui ont été faites en Égypte pendant l'expédition de l'armée française. entitled Thèbes. Hypogées. Manuscrit sur papyrus. 3eme partie. 272 grams, 103.5 x 69 cm



From the collection of a North American priest. Acquired between 1981-1996. Property of a North American collector.

Produced between February 1802 and 1830 on the orders of Napoleon Bonaparte; published between 1809 and 1828. Just 1,000 copies were distributed to various institutions, printed on laid paper with an 'Égypte ancienne et moderne' watermark. The book is subtitled Recueil des observations et des recherches qui ont été faites en Égypte pendant l’expédition de l’Armée française, publié par les ordres de Sa Majesté l’Empereur Napoléon le Grand (Gathering of observations and discoveries which were made in Egypt during the expedition of the French army, published on the orders of His Majesty the Emperor Napoleon the Great). It was the world's first encyclopedia devoted exclusively to the remains of ancient Egypt. The plates of this book are the first to present the archaeological sites of Thebes (Luxor). The papyrus manuscript was recovered from an underground tomb chamber (hypogeum). The scene depicts the Fields of Iaru, a verdant paradise in the ancient Egyptian afterlife, where the deceased could enjoy abundant harvests.

The head of goddess Bastet modelled in the round with alert ears and eyes, ears pierced; hollow-formed. 40.4 grams, 33.6 mm high



Acquired in the mid 1990s. Private collection, Switzerland, thence by descent. Private collection, since the late 1990s.

The feline's pierced ears likely once held earrings or other ornaments. It was probably attached to a statuette of a cat, whose body may have been crafted from wood. The cat was sacred to Bastet, a protective mother goddess and the daughter of the sun god Re. Amulets provided the wearer with the goddess's protection. Her name means ‘she of the bast [ointment jar],’ which may have contained a substance favoured by or exclusive to royalty. Originally, Bastet was depicted as a woman with the head of a lioness, but by the late New Kingdom, she was typically shown with a cat's head. She is sometimes portrayed with kittens, emphasising her maternal role as a fierce protector of her offspring.

Textile fragment with annular beads of varying colours. 19 grams total, beads: 2 mm



with Archaeologia, Switzerland, before 1983. Ex private North American collection. London private collection, 2016.