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LOT 0444
Egyptian Faience Mummy Bead Panel with Four Sons of Horus
PTOLEMAIC PERIOD, CIRCA 332-30 B.C.
4 1/2 in. (22.9 grams, 11.3 cm wide).
Openwork beaded panel depicting a winged scarab with the Four Sons of Horus, Hapy, Imsety, Qebehsenuef, and Duamutef below; restrung.
ProvenanceEx Mariaud de Serres collection, Paris, France, 1980s-1990s.
Accompanied by a previously illustrated catalogue card with provenance.
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.
FootnotesWinged 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 protected the intestines and, finally, the erect-eared jackal-headed Duamutef on the right, who protected the stomach.
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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 0444
Egyptian Faience Mummy Bead Panel with Four Sons of Horus
Estimate £100 - 140€120 - 160 (for guidance only)$140 - 190 (for guidance only)
Opening Bid
£50 (EUR 58; USD 68) +BP*
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Egyptian Wooden Panel with Swimming Fish
Coptic Period, 6th-9th century A.D.Estimate: £200 - 300 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £5
With high-relief plant motifs within thick rectilinear borders; mounted on a custom-made display stand. 730 grams total, 48.5 cm wide
Previously belonging to J Stewart, Mayfair, London, UK; acquired in the early 1980s. Property of a Middlesex gentleman. -
Egyptian Stone Scarab Group
Second Intermediate Period-Ptolemaic Period, circa 1600-30 B.C.Estimate: £120 - 170 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £5
Comprising: carnelian type with plain underside; similar with incuse hand symbol; small greenstone type with scarab beetle and other signs; grey stone type with sphinx, indistinct hes- vase above, and two papyrus stalks below; another with a decorative cartouche panel and other signs; two supplied with a museum-quality impression. 7.12 grams total, 10-17 mm
From the private collection of a European gentleman (1942-2024), formed since the 1970s. -
Egyptian Glazed Faience New Year Flask with Baboons
Late Period, 664-332 B.C.Estimate: £2,000 - 3,000 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £1,000
Lentoid body with segmented collars and blue detailing around the shoulders, neck with papyrus stalk detailing and a domed rim; addorsed stylised baboons flanking the neck. 263 grams, 16 cm
Acquired on the UK art market, 1990s. Private collection, New York, USA. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13350-255452.
The concept of renewal is expressed through the form, decoration, and inscriptions of this type of flask. Their rounded bodies evoke the sun disc, symbolising daily rebirth, while the squatting baboons flanking the mouth allude to those that greeted the rising sun each morning. The blue collar decoration, including floral motifs, as seen here, symbolises the renewal of the agricultural cycle through the annual Nile inundation. The papyrus-capital spout reinforces this theme of regeneration. Although traditionally dated exclusively to the 26th Dynasty, examples recovered from Late Period and early Ptolemaic contexts indicate that their popularity actually endured for several centuries.
