Egyptian Faience Mummy Bead Necklace with Carnelian Feature Beads

Large fragment of tapestry, comprising two segmenta, in red granate wool and coarse linen, on green wool background, S-Z torsion, embroidered with stylised birds, palmettes and other vegetal ornaments, the borders of both segmenta decorated with meanders. 103 grams total including package, 31 cm



Acquired 1970s-1996. Property of a North American collector. London collection, 2016.

This fabric was probably part of a wall tapestry or of a large garment. In 7th century A.D., the stylisation was always more evident on the embroidery of the Coptic textiles, especially when the Arab conquest banned the imagery of the Graeco-Roman world. The decoration was mostly concentrated on geometric ornaments or images of stylised animals.

Proof etching on laid paper of plate 60 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. 226 grams, 103.5 x 70 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 text is written in hieratic, a cursive form of hieroglyphic script often used for religious papyrus documents. The main scene shows the judgment of the dead before a tribunal led by the god Osiris. The scales compare the deceased's heart against the feather of Maat. If they balance, the deceased gains entry into the eternal afterlife; if not, the fearsome Ammut creature devours the heart, and the deceased ceases to exist.

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.