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LOT 0580
Egyptian Faience Nefertem Statuette with Hieroglyphs
LATE-PTOLEMAIC PERIOD, CIRCA 664-30 B.C.
4 1/2 in. (42.8 grams, 11.6 cm).
Presented in a striding pose with his left leg forward and his arms at his sides; wearing his emblem, the lotus-flower headdress from which two plumes emerge, and a menat on each side; dorsal pillar with hieroglyphs, beginning with the incantation: "Words spoken by Nefertum, son of Sekhmet...."
ProvenanceFrom the collection of a gentleman, acquired on the London art market in the 1990s.
LiteratureCf. Andrews, C., Amulets of Ancient Egypt, London, 1994, pp. 18-19, for a discussion of Nefertum amulets; Tinius, I., Altägypten in Braunschweig. Die Sammlungen des Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museums und des Städtischen Museums, Wiesbaden, 2011, pp. 143-144, nos. 259-260, for two examples.
FootnotesNefertum is usually depicted as a young man wearing a headdress with a lotus flower or a crown featuring the flower. The god is often linked to beauty, healing, and the lotus flower, with his cult connected to the royal family and the cycle of rebirth. Nefertum’s imagery and symbolism associate him with themes of creation, renewal, and the sun; he symbolises the first sunlight and the pleasant scent of the Egyptian blue lotus flower, emerging from the primal waters within an Egyptian blue water lily.
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AUCTIONS:
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Egyptian Steatite Scaraboid with Face
Late Period, 664-332 B.C.Estimate: £200 - 300 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £100
Modelled as a domed face of Hathor with small cow-ears and a wig with coiled lappet ends, and an advancing cow on the underside. 10.18 grams, 32 mm
From the collection of a gentleman, acquired on the London art market in the 1990s. -
Egyptian Coptic Textile Fragment Group
Circa 4th-6th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £130
Comprising: remains of a segmentum in yellow, green and brown wool over a red linen background, S torsion, embroidered with a central band and coloured buds; a near complete tablion with representation of a dancer, inside a rondo, with four hares running on the four corners, triangular border on the external edge. 33 grams total including package, 10.7-12.2 cm
Acquired 1970s-1996. Property of a North American collector. London collection, 2016.
The central dancing figure, with her attributes and attitude, can only be interpreted as a Maenad, isolated from the Bacchic procession and abandoned to sacred trances. -
Very Large Egyptian Expedition Lithograph of the Hypogees Papyrus Manuscript from Thebes
Early 19th century A.D.Estimate: £100 - 140 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £50
Proof etching on laid paper of plate 65 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. 5eme partie. 244 grams, 103.5 x 69.5 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).
