Egyptian Gold Swivel Ring with Green Jasper Hedgehog Scaraboid Engraved with a Scarab Flanked by Two Cobras

Gold chain of double-looped links terminating in corrugated end elements, with hook-and-eye clasp; suspension ring embellished with applied granulation and a ribbed loop; hollow-formed sheet-gold pendant in the round depicting Harpocrates seated, his right forefinger raised to his mouth, wearing a finely detailed nemes headdress surmounted by a complex hemhem, crown incorporating multiple hedjet elements, flanking uraei, and ram's horns. 49.80 grams, 40.5 cm



Ex Elie Boustros collection, Lebanon. Private collection, acquired in the late 1980s-early 1990s; thence by descent. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13203-249297.

The fully three-dimensional modelling of the pendant aligns it with a group of high-quality Roman-period Egyptian goldwork characterised by pronounced plasticity and sculptural ambition. A pertinent comparison may be drawn with the gold diadem depicting Serapis from the Dush Treasure, discovered concealed within the wall of a Roman fort in the Baris Oasis (Reddé, M., Douch IV. Le trésor de Douch, DFIFAO 28, Cairo, 1992). That assemblage, plausibly associated with a nearby temple of Serapis and Isis, demonstrates a similarly bold treatment of divine imagery in precious metal. Comparable small-scale representations of Harpocrates in gold - often amuletic in function - are known from Roman Egypt, though examples combining such intricate crown iconography with fully rounded modelling remain relatively rare. The present piece therefore occupies an interesting position between personal adornment and cultic or apotropaic object, reflecting both Alexandrian iconographic synthesis and provincial workshop virtuosity. Harpocrates is the Greek version of the Egyptian Hor-pa-khered, which means ‘Horus the Child’. This name refers to Horus as the divine infant of Isis and Osiris. Wearing an amulet of Harpocrates was believed to provide the same protection that Isis offered to her beloved son.

Modelled in the round figure of a priest kneeling on a base with hands on his thighs; loop behind the shoulders. 1.16 grams, 19 mm



From the collection of a gentleman, acquired on the London art market in the 1990s.

A bifacial flint arrowhead with a pronounced hollow-base form. 2.55 grams, 35.6 mm



From the late collection of a Cornish couple, formed from the early 1990s.

Many hollow-base flint arrowheads were uncovered during excavations at Neolithic sites in Egypt, such as the Fayum region (cf. British Museum EA58736) and Merimde Beni Salama in the Delta (cf. Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology UC10909).