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Details
LOT 0504
Egyptian Faience Mummy Bead Mask with Scarab and Four Sons of Horus
PTOLEMAIC PERIOD, 332-30 B.C.
10 in. (58 grams, 25.5 cm).
A netted beadwork panel of annular and tubular glazed composition beads in blues, greens, black, cream and red-brown colours, depicting a mummy face mask with false beard, a scarab with extended wings below, the 'Four Sons of Horus’ beneath the scarab, joined together with areas of open netting of tubular beads; restrung with some later beads.
Provenance
Ex Mariaud de Serres, Paris, France, 1980-1990s.
From a London, UK, collection.
Literature
Cf. Manley, B., and Dodson, A., Life Everlasting. National Museum of Scotland Collection of Ancient Egyptian Coffins, Edinburgh, 2010, p.114, no.43, for a bead-work shroud incorporating the mask, winged scarab, and Four Sons of Horus.
Footnotes
Winged scarabs were often used as funerary amulets and believed to symbolise the deceased's rebirth and regeneration.
The Four Sons of Horus were deities responsible for protecting the deceased's internal organs. Here, on the left, is the baboon-headed Hapy, protector of the lungs, then the human-headed Imsety, protector of the liver, followed by the falcon-headed Qebehsenuef, who protects the intestines and, finally, the jackal-headed Duamutef on the right (note his erect ears are indicated), who protected the stomach. These internal organs were often placed in canopic jars with the head of the respective Son of Horus. Amulets depicting these deities were placed within the mummy wrappings.
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LOT 0504
Egyptian Faience Mummy Bead Mask with Scarab and Four Sons of Horus
Sold for (Inc. bp): £316
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Original Press Photographs of the 1972 Tutankhamun Exhibition
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Comprising monochrome glossy photographs with printed caption to the reverse: 'Tutankhamun's Funerary Couch. The divine cow in the final stages of wrapping, being embraced by Mr. T.G.H. James, Assistant Keeper of the British Museum'; 'The six stages in the packing of the gilded wooden statue of Tutankhamun; one of a pair that stood sentinel at the entrance to the inner chamber'; 'Colin Ashby of Walford Wingate Forwarders Ltd in the course of packing the major item in the Tutankhamun collection at the Cairo Museum. The funerary mask from Tutankhamun's mummy is made of beaten gold and is the finest ever found.' (Colour photo); 'The funerary mask from Tutankhamun's mummy made of beaten gold and the finest ever found. (Please credit the Cairo Museum)'; 'Part of the carefully-packed contents of Tutankhamun's tomb at London Airport on arrival from Cairo. Lt.Col. E.C. Easter MBE, Chairman of Walford Wingate Forwarders Ltd. the company responsible for the entire packing and surface transportation operation, supervises the off-loading of part of the world's most fabulous treasure.' (2 photographs); 'Never has B.O.A.C.'s slogan been more assuring. the innocent looking cargo being unloaded at London Airport is part of a priceless consignment from Cairo for the forthcoming exhibition of the contents of Tutankhamun's tomb to be held at the British Museum. Flown in by the R.A.F. and B.O.A.C. under British Government indemnity, the world's greatest treasure trove was packed and handled by Walford Wingate Forwarders Ltd.'; 'Tutankhamun's Funerary Couch. Preliminary inspection of Tutankhamun's funerary couch by Messrs Ashby and Burnett of Walford Wingate Forwarders Ltd.'; 'Tutankhamun's Funerary Couch. One of the divine cows separated from the couch in the early stages of wrapping'. 102 grams total, 25.2 x 17.7 - 25.3 x 20.4 cm
Property of a Cambridgeshire, UK, gentleman.
