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LOT 0035
Egyptian Green Glazed Faience Figure of Somtous
LATE PERIOD, CIRCA 664-332 B.C.
2 5/8 in. (39.7 grams total, 68 mm including stand).
Modelled in the round, the nude seated figure of the child Somtous, with one hand to his lips and a prominent sidelock, emerging from a lotus flower; mounted on a custom-made stand.
Provenancewith Noriuchi Horiuchi, Tokyo, Japan.
Private collection, London, UK, acquired from the above in 1993.
This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.
See Gaber, H., Servajean, F., Du pays de Pount aux rives du Nil: parfums d’Égypte, Gand, 2024, pp. 196-197, for discussion and an example in bronze.
FootnotesThe earliest attestations of the cult of Somtous, known as Sematawy in ancient Egyptian, date back to the New Kingdom, although it became particularly popular during the Late Period. Associated with Horus (Horsomtous), the symbol of the child emerging from the lotus represented the (re)birth of the sun god. Thus, Somtous was regarded as a life-giving amuletic symbol, sometimes even referred to as 'Sematawy the child who gives life.'
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LOT 0035
Egyptian Green Glazed Faience Figure of Somtous
Estimate £1,000 - 1,400€1,160 - 1,620 (for guidance only)$1,350 - 1,890 (for guidance only)
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Egyptian Mixed Scarab Collection
2nd-1st millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £585
Comprising (from left to right, top to bottom): 1) a scarab with an oval border containing the throne name of the 19th Dynasty pharaoh, Seti I (Men-Maat-Re); 2) a scarab with an oval outer border containing a continuous oblong scroll border framing a neb and ankh symbol; 3) a scarab with an oval border containing a seated adorant before a sa, water, and neb symbol; 4) a scarab with an oval border containing the throne name of the 19th Dynasty pharaoh, Ramesses II (User-Maat-Re), atop a neb sign; 5) a scarab with two signs, possibly representing the word for ‘bread’ above a goose, with a beer jar in front; 6) and a scaraboid with a stretched oval border containing mirrored pairs of rearing cobras surrounding a central sun disc. 18.64 grams total, 14-27 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. -
Egyptian Multi-Stranded Mummy Bead Necklace
Late Period, 664-332 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £312
Four-stranded designer necklace composed of beads of mainly annular and tubular types. 21 grams, 67 cm
Acquired before 1979. From the private collection of Mr F.A., South Kensington, London, UK; thence by descent 2014. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.
For thousands of years, artisans in Egypt created vibrant ceramics to echo the beauty of rare jewels. These ornaments were created with almost every material, colour, and texture imaginable and they come from across Egypt and beyond: vibrant blue lapis lazuli from Afghanistan, glossy black obsidian from Turkey, and aqua-green turquoise from the Sinai. They were worn in life and, after death, they served as precious ornamentation for mummies. -
Egyptian Blue Glazed Faience Figure of Pataikos
Saite Period, 26th Dynasty, 664-545 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £468
Wearing a broad collar and a stylised scarab on top of the head, elongated arms resting on the lower part of his protruding abdomen. 10.8 grams, 43 mm
Acquired in the mid 1980s-1990s. Private collection, Switzerland, thence by descent. Private collection, since the late 1990s. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.
Herodotus mentions Pataikos as a dwarf-like representation of Ptah, although the ancient Egyptian name of the god remains unclear. These diminutive amulets symbolise Ptah’s immense magical power, which served to protect the wearer from dangerous creatures such as snakes and crocodiles. The role of the deity in the funerary sphere is explained in Spell 164 of the Book of the Dead, where a Pataikos is used to protect the deceased's heart from enemy attacks and the putrefaction of the body.
