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Details
LOT 0498
Egyptian Gold Mounted Scarab Bead
MIDDLE KINGDOM-SECOND INTERMEDIATE PERIOD, CIRCA 1900-1560 B.C.
3/4 in. (3.36 grams, 20 mm).
Comprising a faience scarab with a scroll-work border framing the vertically arranged hieroglyphs: kheper beetle, nwb sign for gold, and two nfr signs flanking an ankh sign, set in a gold funda with tubular collars.
Provenance
From an early 20th century Home Counties, UK, collection.
Literature
See Ben-Tor, D., The Scarab: A Reflection of Ancient Egypt, Jerusalem, 1993, p. 31, for a discussion of this type of design scarab; Andrews, C., Ancient Egyptian Jewellery, London, 1990, pp.163-9, for discussion of finger rings.
CONDITIONVETTING:
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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 0498
Egyptian Gold Mounted Scarab Bead
Estimate £400 - 600€460 - 700 (for guidance only)$540 - 810 (for guidance only)
RELATED LOTS
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Phoenician Bronze Scarab
Late 1st millennium B.C.Estimate: £400 - 600 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £200
Scaraboid with incised detailing to the underside, with a central column depicting standing figures top and bottom, each flanked by two ankh symbols, and a central motif of a standing figure grasping a sceptre and winged serpent in each hand. 6.54 grams, 17 mm
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Egyptian Granite Head of a Dignitary
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Carved with soft facial features and carefully executed cosmetic lines around the eye, earring, and carefully detailed duplex wig with gently wavy curls; likely from the Ramesside Period; mounted on a custom-made stand. 4.23 kg total, 20 cm including stand
Private collection, France. with Christie’s, New York, 18 December 1996, no.60. Acquired by the present owner from the above. Accompanied by an academic report by Egyptologist Paul Whelan. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.12202-222169.
The shape of the eyes, raised upper and lower cosmetic lines, brows, and mouth on the TimeLine head present a similar countenance to that of the cube statue of Hori, dated to the reign of Ramesses II, now in the Musée du Louvre (inv. no. Louvre E11275). An even closer parallel can be seen in another non-royal statue of Paaha in the British Museum (inv. no. EA 501). -
Egyptian Stone Scarab
Late Period, 664-332 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £572
Black hardstone scarab with finely carved head, eyes, clypeus, prothorax, elytra, and legs; plain underside. 38 grams, 48 mm
Ex Irene Newman, Birdham, Chichester, West Sussex, England. with Stride & Son Auctioneers, Chichester, West Sussex, England, 23 April 2015, no.1599 [Part]. Acquired by the present owner at the above sale.
The scarab, representing the dung beetle, was a popular amulet in ancient Egypt for about two thousand years until the Ptolemaic Period. It extended beyond Egypt and was exported to and manufactured in regions like Phoenicia and Israel. The beetle is named khepri and was considered the embodiment of the creator god Khepri. The Egyptians believed that the beetle emerging from the dung ball was an act of self-creation.
