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LOT 0017
Egyptian Glazed Faience New Year Flask with Baboons
LATE PERIOD, 664-332 B.C.
6 1/4 in. (263 grams, 16 cm).
Lentoid body with segmented collars and blue detailing around the shoulders, neck with papyrus stalk detailing and a domed rim; addorsed stylised baboons flanking the neck.
ProvenanceAcquired on the UK art market, 1990s.
Private collection, New York, USA.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13350-255452.
Cf. Wahby, A., et al, 'Eight New Year’s flasks from Tell Tebilla,' Prague Egyptological Studies XXX/2023, p. 32, no. 8, for a flask excavated near Mendes (in Lower Egypt) with similar neck and body decoration.
FootnotesThe concept of renewal is expressed through the form, decoration, and inscriptions of this type of flask. Their rounded bodies evoke the sun disc, symbolising daily rebirth, while the squatting baboons flanking the mouth allude to those that greeted the rising sun each morning. The blue collar decoration, including floral motifs, as seen here, symbolises the renewal of the agricultural cycle through the annual Nile inundation. The papyrus-capital spout reinforces this theme of regeneration. Although traditionally dated exclusively to the 26th Dynasty, examples recovered from Late Period and early Ptolemaic contexts indicate that their popularity actually endured for several centuries.
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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 0017
Egyptian Glazed Faience New Year Flask with Baboons
Estimate £2,000 - 3,000€2,320 - 3,480 (for guidance only)$2,700 - 4,050 (for guidance only)
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Egyptian Blue Glass Inlay Collection
Late Period-Ptolemaic Period, circa 664-30 B.C.Estimate: £300 - 400 (+bp*)
Current Winning Bid: £200
Comprising: four vessel- or cartouche-shaped inlays, a djed pillar, and two standing figures. 8.98 grma total, 31-37 mm
From a 20th century UK collection. -
Egyptian Funerary Linen Fragment with Hieratic Text from the Book of the Dead for Ta-sherit-n-ta-ihet
Graeco-Roman Period, circa 3rd century B.C.-2nd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £1,690
Bearing a portion of Chapter 17, a spell written in late hieratic script executed in black ink on woven linen, consistent with funerary bandages of the Graeco-Roman period; the inscription identifies the owner as a woman named Ta-sherit-n-ta-ihet, with her mother named Iset-(m-)khebit; as is typical for funerary manuscripts of this period, the father’s name is not recorded. 5.08 grams, 22 cm wide
Found inside an 18th-century Bible and believed to be a souvenir acquired in the 19th century. From the private collection of a North American lady. An academically identified and unpublished fragment, offering potential for further scholarly study and publication. Accompanied by a report in progress dated 28 April 2026 by Holly Lund.
Spell 17 is among the most important and widely transmitted compositions in the Book of the Dead, concerned with cosmology, divine knowledge, and the transformation of the deceased in the afterlife. Even in fragmentary form, such texts provide valuable insight into funerary belief and scribal practice during the later phases of ancient Egyptian religion. This description was prepared using information provided by Dr Ann-Katrin Gill, Academic Assistant at the Egyptological Institute, University of Leipzig, and a separate assessment by Steve Vinson, Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures at Indiana University, Bloomington. The linen fragment may derive from a nineteenth-century mummy unwrapping, a practise widely attested in this period. -
Egyptian Faience Scarab
2nd millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £104
Anatomical detailing on the head and legs, with the underside featuring sedge plant (swt), ankh, and nefer symbols. 0.89 grams, 18 mm
Private collection, 1990s-early 2000s.
Scarabs featuring this design arrangement have been found in numerous sites in Palestine and were inspired by Middle Kingdom prototypes.
