Egyptian Faience Mummy Bead Necklace

An elaborate amulet in bright blue faience, modelled on four sides: Side 1: a diminutive figure of Harpokrates holding a snake in each hand and standing on the back of a lion, below which is a stylised mummiform (?) figure with a nemes headdress and a broad ornamental collar; Side 2: a baboon seated upon a nebyt collar, below which is a standing naked female figure wearing a Hathoric wig; Side 3: a standing naked female figure with right arm hanging by her side and left arm bent at the elbow and forearm positioned beneath her breasts, wearing a composite wig with striated lappets and uraeus to the front, surmounted by two tall ostrich feathers fronted by a sun disc; Side 4: a standing naked female figure with right arm hanging by her side and left arm bent at the elbow and forearm positioned beneath her breasts, wearing a lappet wig and uraeus to the front, surmounted by a tall two-plumed headdress fronted by a sun disc; the figure of a falcon tops the composition, which stands on an integral plinth. 21 grams, 60 mm



Mr F.D. collection, acquired on the European art market, 1975 to present. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.

This highly unusual amulet contains elements associated with Horus cippi. On such objects, Horus is depicted as a naked child, usually holding snakes and standing on crocodiles, though other dangerous animals, such as lions, are also represented with him. The goddesses Isis and Nephthys are typically found on cippi, and two of the three female figures on this amulet may represent these goddesses. However, their headdresses are untypical of either deity, while the third female figure sports the Hathor wig.

Standing in advancing pose on a rectangular base; the god modelled with a disc representing the full-moon surmounting a crescent new moon atop his head and fronted by a uraeus, the falcon-head sports a finely striated tripartite wig and with beaded silver wire frames to the (once inlaid) eyes; wearing a broad wesekh collar; the left arm bent and fist drilled to grip a staff, right arm straight to the side with similar drilled fist; pleated shendyt kilt and belt to the hips; mounted on a tiered socle base. 896 grams total, 27 cm including stand

Very fine condition.

Smith family collection, Cambridge, UK since 1949. Private UK collection since 1978. Accompanied by a scholarly note by Egyptologist Paul Whelan. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.11033-183985. 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.

The moon god Khonsu (whose name means 'wanderer', referring to the passage of the moon across the sky) is known as a blood-thirsty sky-deity in the Pyramid Texts. In New Kingdom Thebes, however, he was regarded as a far more benevolent deity, being the child of Amun and Mut, and provided with his own temple at Karnak. There, he was considered to control destiny. Khonsu can appear in human form with a side-lock of youth, wearing an enveloping garment, and holding royal regalia, and also as a falcon-headed man with the full moon and crescent new moon headdress, as with this fine example. In his falcon-headed form he frequently holds an ankh symbol and a was-sceptre, for which the hands of this piece were drilled to accept the god's well-known attributes.

Small carved head with bobbed curly wig and and narrow hair band or diadem; surface slightly worn; mounted on a display stand. 29 grams, 35 mm (57.6 grams total, 10.4 cm)



Antoni Sikorski collection, London, formed between the 1950s and 1970s. with Chiswick Auctions, 11 May 2016, no.37 [Part]. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.

Although worn, the presence of the narrow diadem and curly hair suggest that the head might depict a Ptolemaic priest. For better-preserved examples of the type cf. Bothmer, B.V., Egyptian Sculpture of the Late Period 700 B.C. to A.D. 100, New York, 1960, pp. 178-179, pls. 128 and 129, 343; Spier, J., Potts, T., and Cole, S.E. (eds.), Beyond the Nile: Egypt and the classical world, Los Angeles, 2018, p. 169 no. 101.