Egyptian Faience Frog Scaraboid with Hieroglyphs

Fragment of the rectangular base of a statue, preserving an integral pair of feet on the upper surface; lower end of dorsal column inscription at the rear with two hieroglyphs; below, a horizontal band of hieroglyphic text extending onto both short sides including part of an offering formula for the ḥm-nṯr ı͗wnw-smꜤ ḥr-sꜢ-Ꜣstı͗ (the priest [of the] Southern Heliopolis [i.e., Thebes], Hor-sa-aseti); old collectors' labels on the underside; supplied with a custom-made wooden display stand. 1.37 kg, 12.9 cm (4.08 kg total, 25 cm including stand)



Private New York, USA, collection, 1970. Ex Adrian Burns, Columus, Ohio, USA, from an old estate collection. Ex Art for Eternity gallery, New York, USA. Ex Art Primativo, Auction 16, 2001, no.430. Ex private New York, USA, collection. Private collection, London, UK. Accompanied by an academic report by Egyptologist Paul Whelan. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12832-240779. This lot has been cleared against the Art Loss Register database, and is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

Comprising: a tapering plano-convex section body with D-shaped face, nose and mouth; tag or lace-end with carved female bust. 9.45 grams total, 32-43 mm



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.

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).

Dark green hardstone with paler speckles; with a boldly carved head, clypeus, prothorax and elytra, and legs indicated at the sides; plain underside. 17 grams, 29 mm



Ex Irene Newman, Birdham, Chichester, West Sussex, England. with Stride & Son Auctioneers, Chichester, West Sussex, England, 23 April 2015, no.1599 [Part]. Acquired by the present owner at the above sale. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

The scarab, which represented the dung beetle, was the most popular amulet in ancient Egypt for approximately two thousand years until the Ptolemaic Period when it gradually fell out of favour. The popularity of scarabs extended beyond the borders of Egypt, and they were also distributed and produced in other regions, such as Phoenicia and Israel. The beetle is named khepri, derived from the verb 'to come into existence', and was considered the embodiment of the creator god Khepri, who was self-engendered. The ancient Egyptians mistakenly believed that the young beetle emerging from the dung ball was the result of an act of self-creation.