Loading, please wait...
Details
LOT 0018
Egyptian Granite Head of a Dignitary
NEW KINGDOM, 1552-1069 B.C.
7 7/8 in. (4.23 kg total, 20 cm including stand).
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.
Provenance
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.
Literature
Cf. Berman, L.M., The Cleveland Museum of Art Catalogue of Egyptian Art, New York, 1999, pp.233-5, no.168, for the statue of a scribe with similar wig and details.
Footnotes
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).
CONDITIONVETTING:
TimeLine Auctions follows a vetting process to ensure the authenticity and legality of all items, reinforcing our commitment to integrity and responsible trading. Each antiquity, antique, and coin lot undergoes thorough examination by a vetting committee of at least ten external specialists, professional trade association members, scientists, and archaeologists: Our Vetting Process
AUCTIONS:
TimeLine is a leading auction house specialising in antiquities, ancient art, collectables, natural history, coins, medals, and books. Our auctions offer museums, collectors, historians, and enthusiasts the opportunity to acquire unique and historically significant pieces.
RELATED LOTS
-
Egyptian Faience Beaded Mummy Mask
Ptolemaic Period, 332-30 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £234
Restrung netted beadwork panel of annular and tubular glazed composition beads in blues, greens, black, cream and red-brown colours, depicting a mummy face mask with false beard. 67 grams, 16 cm
Ex Mariaud de Serres, Paris, France, 1990s. From a London, UK, collection. -
Egyptian Faience Amulet of an Ibis
Late Period, 664-332 B.C.Estimate: £500 - 700 (‡+bp*)
Opening Bid: £250
An exquisitely modelled figure of a seated ibis on a trapezoidal-shaped plinth, with its beak resting on the slender feather of Maat; light turquoise glaze for the body, plinth, and feather; blue glaze for the tail feathers, feet and neck; head missing. 3.54 grams, 31 mm
with Bonhams, Knightsbridge, 3 October 2000, no.413. Private collection, Europe.
The ibis was considered sacred to the god Thoth. It is likely that the popularity of amulets depicting an ibis resting its beak on the feather of Maat in the funerary sphere is connected to Thoth's role as the recorder of the final judgment of the deceased by the divine tribunal. This tribunal determined if the deceased had lived a virtuous life and could enter the Underworld. This was visually represented by the deceased's heart placed on scales with the feather of Maat; if the heart and feather balanced, eternity was assured. -
Egyptian Painted Limestone Shabti for Abet-iyiry
Late New Kingdom, circa 1100 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £910
With remains of pigment to the tripartite wig, face and eyes; vertical band of hieroglyphic inscription in black on the front giving dedication: 'sḥḏ wsir Ꜣbt-iyiry(?) mꜢʾ ḫrw' ‘The illuminated, the Osiris, Abet-iyiry(?), true of voice’; with remains of red borders and red detailing to the back. 162 grams, 13.3 cm
Acquired 1970s-1996. Property of a North American collector. London collection, 2016.