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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)
Opening Bid
£1,000 (EUR 1,160; USD 1,350) +BP*
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Egyptian Faience Multiple Eye of Horus Amulet
New Kingdom-Late Period, 1550-332 B.C.Estimate: £200 - 300 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £100
Green glazed amulet with two wedjats at the top and the mirror image below, pierced through the centre for suspension. 11.83 grams, 33 mm
From an early 20th century UK collection. Accompanied by a previously illustrated catalogue card with provenance. -
Egyptian Blue Glazed Shabti for Hor
New Kingdom, 19th Dynasty, 13th century B.C.Estimate: £1,500 - 2,000 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £750
Modelled with a rounded wig and sidelock; painted black detailing to the eyes, lips, collar and agricultural tools held in the crossed hands; painted vertical panel to lower body with hieroglyphic legend “The illuminated one, the Osiris, the sem priest, the great director of craftsmen, Hor, justified” (sḥḏ wsı͗r sm wr ḫrp(w) ḥmw(w)t ḥr mꜣꜥ-ḫrw); repaired. 146 grams, 13.8 cm
Acquired on the UK art market, 1990s. Private collection, New York, USA.
Although the inscription names the owner as Hor, it seems likely that this shabti was made for a high official named Hori. Several sem priests named Hori are known. It seems plausible that this shabti belonged to the Hori who was the son of Prince Khaemwaset, son of Ramesses II, since a similar example was found alongside those of the prince in a chamber in the Serapeum (Mariette, A., Le Sérapéum du Memphis, Paris, 1857, pl. 10). -
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Egyptian Seated Gold Bastet Cat Amulet
Late New Kingdom-Third Intermediate Period, circa 1069-900 B.C. or laterEstimate: £500 - 700 (+bp*)
Bids: 1 | Current Bid: £400
Modelled seated on a tongue-shaped base, with simple facial detailing and a suspension loop to the back. 0.54 grams, 8 mm
Ex French art market, 1920s.
The goddess Bastet was believed to be the daughter of the sun god and was shown with the features of a lion up until about 1000 B.C., when she was first portrayed as a cat or human with a cat head. As the daughter of Ra, she was associated with the rage inherent in the sun god's eye, which was considered to be his instrument of vengeance. Her development into a cat goddess occurred during the New Kingdom, but did not fully develop until the Late Period. She was still associated with the destructive power of the sun and was shown on the prow of the solar boat, decapitating the evil serpent Apophis in the Book of the Dead. The maternal, protective and hunting characteristics of the cat are obvious in Bastet, and she was seen as a protector of pregnant women and young children. In the Pyramid Texts, she is invoked by the deceased king to act as his protector and to help him reach the sky to join the sun god; the king proclaims that Bastet is his mother and nurse. Like her counterpart, Sekhmet, Bastet has an aggressive side and, in a text from Karnak, Amenhotep II described his enemies being slaughtered like the victims of Bastet. The goddess had a shrine at Karnak, where she is known as the 'Lady of Asheru', which aligns her closely with the goddess Mut, the consort of Amun-Ra. Her most famous shrine was in the north-east Delta region, at Bubastis, and was known as Per-Bastet or 'the House of Bastet.' Herodotus describes the festival of Bastet as one of the most elaborate in all of Egypt and identifies her with the Greek Artemis. Cemeteries of cats have been excavated at Bubastis, and at Saqqara and Memphis.
