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_900x900.jpg "Egyptian Green Glazed Somtous Seated on Lotus Flower")
_200x200.jpg "Egyptian Green Glazed Somtous Seated on Lotus Flower")
.jpg "Egyptian Green Glazed Somtous Seated on Lotus Flower")
LOT 0056
Egyptian Green Glazed Somtous Seated on Lotus Flower
LATE PERIOD, CIRCA 664-332 B.C.
2 5/8 in. (39.76 grams total, 68 mm high 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.
ProvenanceNoriuchi Horiuchi, Tokyo, Japan, 1993.
Private collection, London, UK.
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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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 0056
Egyptian Green Glazed Somtous Seated on Lotus Flower
Sold for (Inc. bp): £780
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London, UK, art market, 1980s. Private collection, London, UK. -
Egyptian Rock Crystal Piriform Vessel
Old Kingdom, 5th-6th Dynasty, circa 2500-2200 B.C.Estimate: £2,500 - 3,500 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £1,200
Model amphora with trumpet-shaped mouth and piriform body; shallow socket above. 55 grams, 59 mm
with Archaeologia, Switzerland, before 1983. Ex private North American collection. London private collection, 2016. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.13231-249997.
This model vessel was probably linked to the "Opening of the Mouth" ritual, which revived the deceased.
