Loading, please wait...
Details
LOT 0542
Egyptian Faience Shabti Collection
PTOLEMAIC PERIOD, 332-30 B.C.
2 3/8 - 2 1/2 in. (38.5 grams total, 60-65 mm).
Comprising four mummiform shabtis with worn detail, three blue-glazed. [4]
Provenance
Acquired on the UK art market before 2000.
Property of an Essex, UK, gentleman.
This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.
Literature
Cf. Tinius, I., Altägypten in Braunschweig. Die Sammlungen des Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museums und des Städtischen Museums, Wiesbaden, 2011, pp. 68-69, nos. 93-94, for examples of similarly crude mould-made faience shabtis.
CONDITIONVETTING:
TimeLine Auctions follows a vetting process to ensure the authenticity and legality of all items, reinforcing our commitment to integrity and responsible trading. Each antiquity, antique, and coin lot undergoes thorough examination by a vetting committee of at least ten external specialists, professional trade association members, scientists, and archaeologists: Our Vetting Process
AUCTIONS:
TimeLine is a leading auction house specialising in antiquities, ancient art, collectables, natural history, coins, medals, and books. Our auctions offer museums, collectors, historians, and enthusiasts the opportunity to acquire unique and historically significant pieces.
RELATED LOTS
-
Egyptian Stone Eye Inlay Pair
Ptolemaic Period, 332-30 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £208
White stone sclera with black stone iris, green stains visible on edges from copper rims. 10.5 grams total, 30-32 mm
Acquired on the UK art market, 1977-1979. Private collection, London. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.
Egyptian coffin eye inlays were both decorative and symbolic, intended to make the coffin appear lifelike and assist the deceased in the afterlife. Typically, they featured a white sclera (glass, alabaster or quartz), a dark iris (glass or often obsidian), and sometimes red paint at the inner corner. The eyes were often set in bronze or copper frames, occasionally with faience or bronze eyebrows. -
Egyptian Faience Amulet of Taweret
664-332 B.C.Estimate: £400 - 600 (‡+bp*)
Opening Bid: £200
Modelled in the round with dorsal pillar and loop at the shoulder, the goddess in hippopotamus form with human torso and arms. 7.9 grams, 50 mm
Collection of an amateur, Carouge, Switzerland, assembled in the 1980s-1990s. Thence by descent to the collection of Mr S.P., since 2020. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato. -
Egyptian Mummy Shroud Section with Hieratic Text
Late-Ptolemaic Period, circa 480-30 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £1,170
A section of woven linen textile featuring lines of neat hieratic text in black. 5.61 grams, 16 cm
From the collection of a gentleman, acquired on the London art market in the 1990s. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.
From the fifth century B.C., mummy wrappings for the affluent frequently display lines of hieratic script—a cursive variant of Egyptian hieroglyphs used for both daily and religious writings. These often include excerpts from funerary texts like the Book of the Dead, along with prayers and invocations designed to safeguard and guide the deceased in the afterlife. These texts, sometimes accompanied by vignettes, were inscribed directly on the linen strips before or during the mummification process. Some of these bandages could be remarkably long; one example from Brussels, measuring only 6.2 cm in width, spans an incredible 26 metres.