Egyptian Faience Shabti with Hieroglyphics

Modelled in the round as the ibis-headed human figure of Thoth, with a plain dorsal pillar, pierced at the top for suspension. 8.71 grams, 48.29 mm



Ex early 20th century London, UK, collection.

The ibis-headed form of Thoth is particularly significant in funerary contexts, as this depiction of the god frequently appears in Weighing of the Heart scenes, where the dead are judged before a divine tribunal for entry into the Hereafter. Thoth's role was to record the final judgement, which determined whether the deceased had led a virtuous life.

With flat rim and four projecting lugs; band of incised concentric rings to the rim and shoulder; curving sidewall to a narrow flat base. 503 grams, 13.2 cm wide



Private collection, USA and Switzerland, acquired in the late 1980s-early 1990s; by descent to the current owner.

Vessels of this typology were used mainly as mortars for crushing legumes, cereals, fruit, spices, the bare minimum needed for preparing daily food, but also for pharmaceutical products and for painting, for mixing colours and ointments.

Proof etching on laid paper of plate 28 from Vol .I 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. Memnonium. Coupe longitudinale du tombeau d'Osymandyas. 225 grams, 104.5 x 69 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 "Memnonium" is the Greek name for the mortuary temple of Ramesses II, now known as the Ramesseum.