Egyptian Green Glazed Faience Amulet of a Seated Sphinx

Amuletic pendant of the cat goddess Bastet, sitting on a rectangular base, suspension loop behind the shoulders. 1.82 grams, 16 mm



Acquired 1990s. Property of a Staffordshire lady collector. Ex Quercus of Quonians, Lichfield, UK, 2018. Property of a Sussex, UK, teacher. Private collection, London. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

The cat was sacred to Bastet, a protective mother goddess and the daughter of the sun god Re. Amulets provided the wearer with the goddess's protection. Her name means ‘she of the bast [ointment jar],’ which may have contained a substance favoured by or exclusive to royalty. Originally, Bastet was depicted as a woman with the head of a lioness, but by the late New Kingdom, she was typically depicted with a cat's head. She is sometimes shown with kittens, emphasising her maternal role as a fierce protector of offspring.

This expertly carved high-relief scene depicts three male figures with short hairstyles, each wearing a short kilt tied at the waist; the left and central figures carry a small furnace by curved handles, preparing to smelt copper; the central figure also holds a metal poker in his free hand; the figure on the left supports a large container at chest level with one hand; finely rendered hieroglyphic inscriptions in front of each figure record a dialogue among the three metalworkers; the leftmost figure, facing the others, declares “Ptah could not have done better”; the central figure responds with three lines of text “Ptah loves him to pour (into) the brazier of the flame”; the inscription before the rightmost figure reads “copper of the baskets”; together, the second and third texts may be interpreted as “Ptah would love him to pour copper from the baskets into the furnace”; the composition likely formed part of a larger scene illustrating metalworking activities; supplied with a custom-made stand. 21.35 kg total, 53.5 cm wide including stand



with Toufic Arakji, Hamburg, by circa 1980. Private collection, acquired from the above, circa 1980-1994. with Sotheby’s, New York, Antiquities and Islamic Art, 8 June 1994, no.23. Private collection, 1994-2010, acquired at the above sale. with David Aaron, London, UK, 2010-2011. with Daniel Katz Gallery, London, UK. UK private collection. Accompanied by an academic report by Egyptologist Sylvie Caroff. Accompanied by a copy of an Art Loss Register certificate no.S00142449. This lot has been cleared against the Art Loss Register database, and is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

The mention of Ptah – patron god of craftsmen – links this piece to Memphis, suggesting it came from the tomb of a high-ranking official or priest.

Stone plaque with raised relief depictions of the Apis bull and a falcon deity beneath; a mixed group of scarabs and scaraboids, most bearing text or motifs on the underside, including: a rope border enclosing the head of a lion wearing a sun disc and uraeus; a plain gold scaraboid; a line border enclosing the throne name of Amenhotep III (neb-maat-Re); an indeterminate standing figure; a central hes- vase flanked by rearing cobras; a group of hieroglyphs, perhaps a slightly incorrect spelling of the throne name of Amenhotep II (akheperu-Re); and a group of four hieroglyphs. 36.9 grams total, 14-35 mm



From the collection of a gentleman, acquired on the London art market in the 1990s. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.