Egyptian Faience Scarab with Hieroglyphs

Hollow-formed mask with integral tripartite wig and mount for a uraeus; impassive facial detailing and applied gold cosmetic lines to eyes, eyebrows, and lateral chin straps of the braided 'false beard'; segment of the wesekh-collar visible between the lappets of the wig; some restoration; mounted on a custom-made stand within a padded wooden display case. 1.2 kg, 22.5 cm high including stand (3.27 kg total, 27 cm including case)



Old French family collection of Monsieur and Madame D., 1960s. Ex Rennes Enchères, Hôtel des Ventes, France, 11 March 2003, no.117 (front-cover) for 150,000.00 euros. Acquired from Mansour Gallery, London W1, UK, in 2013. From the collection of a Kensington gentleman. Private collection, UK. Accompanied by the original Rennes Enchères catalogue. Accompanied by a copy of French passport no.058205 dated 15 April 2003. Accompanied by a copy of Mansour Gallery’s invoice, 2013. Accompanied by previous typed and illustrated collection cataloguing pages. Accompanied by an academic report by Egyptologist Paul Whelan. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12372-225585.

Modelled in the shape of a poppy seed with a flat foot leading to a globular body with a tapering neck attached to a small loop at the top for suspension. 3.29 grams total, 16-17 mm



From an early 20th century collection.

Amulets in the form of poppies were used to heal and alleviate pain and to ward off death. These types of amulets were also linked to Osiris, the Egyptian deity of agriculture, death, and the afterlife.

Of mummiform type, wearing a tripartite wig, stylised facial features with large ears, hands crossed at the chest; a contrasting green-glazed frontal column of hieroglyphic text with a cartouche which reads wsỉr nswt wrt Ꜣst-nfr.t, ‘The Osiris, the great king's wife Iset-nofret’. 88 grams, 10.8 cm



Acquired on the German art market, 1989-1995. with The Museum Gallery, 19 Bury Place, London, WC1, UK, 1998-2003. Property of a London based academic, 2003-present. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12373-226026.

Several late New Kingdom queens were named Iset-nofret, but this particular example is likely associated with one of the two wives of Ramesses II who had the same name. One of these queens gave birth to Prince Khaemwaset and is mentioned on monuments erected by him. While it is possible that the queen's shabtis were used for funerary purposes, Khaemwaset is known to have placed his own shabtis as votives in non-sepulchral locations in the Memphite necropolises, and it is possible that he also did the same with shabtis naming his mother. For a discussion of the Ramesside queens with this name, see Tyldesley, J., Chronicle of the Queens of Egypt, London, 2006, p.154ff.