Egyptian Faience Bead Bracelet

Of mummiform type, wearing a tripartite wig and long plaited divine beard; holding a pick in the left hand, a hoe in the right, and the cord of a seed bag hanging over his left shoulder; standing on an integral plinth, a plain back pillar terminating at the base of the wig; two vertical panels of hieroglyphic inscription to the front, including dedication: sḥḏ wsỉr ḥr sꜢ Ꜣst, ‘The illuminated, the Osiris, Hor-sa-Iset’; mounted on a custom-made display stand. 124 grams, 15.2 cm



Jacques René Fiechter, Switzerland (1920-1950). with Auction Martin, Egyptian collection of André Bircher, 1949. with Cahn Auktionen AG, Basel, 5 November 2011, no.20. Private collection, Europe. Accompanied by copies of the relevant Cahn catalogue pages.

Finely detailed depiction of a human-headed ba-bird with outspread wings and the one preserved claw holding a shen ring. 0.38 grams, 15 mm



From the private collection of the late Mrs Belinda Ellison, a long time member of the Egyptian Exploration Society, c.1940-2020.

In ancient Egyptian religion, the ba is one of the principal aspects of the human soul, along with the ka and the akh. It is often depicted in bird form, symbolising the soul's mobility after death.

The scarab with lightly incised anatomical detailing, the underside with a central cartouche flanked by two rearing crowned uraei, a pair of falcons standing above the cartouche facing a smꜣ hieroglyph symbolising union (of the two lands, Upper and Lower Egypt); set into a later gold swivel ring. 4.34 grams, 26.44 mm overall, 15.68 mm internal diameter (approximate size British J 1/2, USA 5, Europe 9.32, Japan 9)



with Bonhams, London, 21 October 1999, no.36. Private collection, Europe. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12370-226696.