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LOT 0421
Egyptian Faience and Glass Amulet Collection
NEW KINGDOM-LATE PERIOD, CIRCA 1550-332 B.C.
3/8 - 1 1/2 in. (9.11 grams total, 9.53-36.46 mm).
Comprising eleven amulets, including two baubo amulets, a dancing Bes, a tilapia fish, a bunch of grapes, a crowned djed pillar, two lion amulets, and others. [11, No Reserve]
ProvenanceFrom the private collection of a European gentleman (1942-2024), formed since the 1970s.
LiteratureCf. Reisner, G.A., Catalogue général des antiquités égyptiennes du Musée du Caire, Nos.12528-13595, Vol. II, Amulets, Cairo, 1958, pl. XXIX (no. 13303), for a comparable crowned djed pillar; Andrews, C., Amulets of Ancient Egypt, London, 1994, 65j, for a bunch of grape amulet.
CONDITIONTimeLine Auctions follows a vetting process to ensure the authenticity and legality of all items, reinforcing our commitment to integrity and responsible trading. Each antiquity, antique, and coin lot undergoes thorough examination by a vetting committee of at least ten external specialists, professional trade association members, scientists, and archaeologists: Our Vetting Process
AUCTIONS:
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Egyptian White Cat Amulet
Late Period, 664-332 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £286
Modelled in the round, sitting on a trapezoidal base, ears pricked, ribbed loop behind shoulders. 2.32 grams, 25.54 mm
Ex London gentleman's collection, by descent 1980s. -
Egyptian Glass Bead Necklace with Large Sekhmet Faience Amulet
Late Period, 664-332 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £1,170
Restrung group of polyhedral and tubular beads in fusiform, biconvex, tubular and other types; triangular dangles and pendant of cat-headed Sekhmet. 26 grams, 44 cm, amulet: 50 mm
From the collection of a gentleman, acquired on the London art market in the 1990s. -
Egyptian Gold Necklace with Harpocrates Pendant
Roman Period, 1st century B.C.-1st century A.D.Estimate: £15,000 - 20,000 (‡+bp*)
Opening Bid: £7,500
Gold chain of double-looped links terminating in corrugated end elements, with hook-and-eye clasp; suspension ring embellished with applied granulation and a ribbed loop; hollow-formed sheet-gold pendant in the round depicting Harpocrates seated, his right forefinger raised to his mouth, wearing a finely detailed nemes headdress surmounted by a complex hemhem, crown incorporating multiple hedjet elements, flanking uraei, and ram's horns. 49.80 grams, 40.5 cm
Ex Elie Boustros collection, Lebanon. Private collection, acquired in the late 1980s-early 1990s; thence by descent. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13203-249297.
The fully three-dimensional modelling of the pendant aligns it with a group of high-quality Roman-period Egyptian goldwork characterised by pronounced plasticity and sculptural ambition. A pertinent comparison may be drawn with the gold diadem depicting Serapis from the Dush Treasure, discovered concealed within the wall of a Roman fort in the Baris Oasis (Reddé, M., Douch IV. Le trésor de Douch, DFIFAO 28, Cairo, 1992). That assemblage, plausibly associated with a nearby temple of Serapis and Isis, demonstrates a similarly bold treatment of divine imagery in precious metal. Comparable small-scale representations of Harpocrates in gold - often amuletic in function - are known from Roman Egypt, though examples combining such intricate crown iconography with fully rounded modelling remain relatively rare. The present piece therefore occupies an interesting position between personal adornment and cultic or apotropaic object, reflecting both Alexandrian iconographic synthesis and provincial workshop virtuosity. Harpocrates is the Greek version of the Egyptian Hor-pa-khered, which means ‘Horus the Child’. This name refers to Horus as the divine infant of Isis and Osiris. Wearing an amulet of Harpocrates was believed to provide the same protection that Isis offered to her beloved son.
