Egyptian Glazed Terracotta Lion Statuette

Mummiform figure wearing a plain tripartite wig with horizontal line detailing at the lappet ends, a braided false beard, a finely modelled face, arms crossed with the left hand holding a pick and the right a hoe, and a tightly twisted cord of a long rectangular seed bag, which hangs over the left shoulder; seven horizontal bands of hieroglyphs on the body, with an eighth on the foot, and more entirely filling the dorsal pillar, giving Chapter 6 of the Book of the Dead; with a display stand bearing the legend 'Ushabti of Wedjahor XXVI Dyn'. 63.9 grams, 10.9 cm (81.2 grams total, 12.6 cm including stand)



Acquired at Michael's, Crawford Street, 6th January 1960, £3:5:0 for two. From the private collection of Peter Clayton, FCILIP, Dip, Arch, FSA, FRNS, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, UK; formed since the late 1950s. Accompanied by an old handwritten information card by Peter Clayton, collection no.69A.

Broad and flat, the outline is shaped like a stylised, schematic fish, with an ovoid body, rounded front edge, and a gently tapering 'tail' at the rear. 858 grams, 25.3 cm



Private collection, Paris, France. Auction Millon, Paris, 27 May 2019, no.109. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.13496-263056.

Predynastic fish palettes are among the more common zoomorphic types and were produced with varying degrees of naturalism and detail. This example has a similar profile to one recovered from the Predynastic cemetery at Tarkhan (Petrie, W.M.F., Corpus of Prehistoric Pottery and Palettes, London, 1917, pl. LV, 54J).

Mummiform figure with a high-relief bag wig, a top sash band, facial details, tools, a seed bag, and hieroglyphs on the lower body in black. 42 grams, 11.6 cm



with a privately curated collection, 1980s-early 2000s. From the private collection and estate of Christine Simons (1943-2025), West Midlands, UK.