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LOT 0497
Egyptian Faience Nephthys Amulet
LATE PERIOD, 664-332 B.C.
1 1/4 in. (1.68 grams, 34 mm).
Standing figure of the goddess, wearing a striated lappet wig topped by her characteristic headdress, with her arms at her sides; supported by a dorsal pillar pierced once for suspension.
ProvenanceEx early 20th century collection, London, UK.
LiteratureCf. Loffet, H.C., Collections égyptiennes du Museum Emmanuel Liais de Cherbourg Octeville, Paris, 2007, p. 58, no. 61, for a similar example.
FootnotesThis amulet represents Nephthys (Egyptian: Nebet-Hut), a protective goddess closely associated with mourning, magic, and the afterlife. Often depicted as a woman with her name in hieroglyphs atop her head, Nephthys is Isis’s sister and, together with Isis, plays a central role in the funerary rites of Osiris.
Amulets of Nephthys were often worn or placed among the deceased’s wrappings to invoke her protective role during the journey to the afterlife. As a divine mourner, Nephthys was believed to guard the dead and assist in their rebirth, making her amulet a symbol of divine protection, sacred lamentation, and renewal.
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Romano-Egyptian Haematite Scarab with Gnostic Figure
3rd century A.D.Estimate: £600 - 800 (‡+bp*)
Opening Bid: £333
With scene to underside of a winged figure advancing. 6.52 grams, 17 mm
Acquired in the mid 1980s-1990s. Private collection, Switzerland, thence by descent. Private collection, since the late 1990s. -
Egyptian Granite Seated Figure
Late Period, 664-332 B.C.Estimate: £3,000 - 4,000 (‡+bp*)
Opening Bid: £1,667
Fragment of a statue of an official, comprising the torso and legs clad in an ankle-length robe and seated on a rectangular-section seat with stepped base and short, curved backrest and rear dorsal pillar; the left hand carved with the palm resting along the thigh; the right hand similarly placed but with the hand gripping a folded piece of cloth of which the ends are draped over the lower thigh above the knee; traces of an old label to reverse. 4.1 kg, 18.7 cm
Private collection, Europe. with Bonhams & Brooks, 8th November 2001, no.265. Private collection, Europe. Accompanied by copies of the relevant Bonhams & Brooks catalogue pages. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12584-232097.
The official would have been shown wearing a longer cloak-like garment rather than a waist-height kilt, as the line of the folded edge is visible above where a waistband would typically be. -
Egyptian Faience Amulet Collection
1st millennium B.C.Estimate: £450 - 650 (‡+bp*)
Opening Bid: £225
Comprising: an amuletic bead consisting of a row of seven Taweret figures on a rectangular base, pierced longitudinally; a seated ibis before a diminutive figure of Maat on a tongue-shaped base; a cippus amulet composed of the figure of Pataikos standing on two crocodiles, with two hawks perched on his shoulders, a scarab on his head, flanked by the figures of Isis and Nephthys, and on the back, a winged goddess standing on the crocodiles' tails. 6.5 grams total, 16-30 mm
Acquired in the mid 1980s-1990s. Private collection, Switzerland, thence by descent. Private collection, since the late 1990s.