Egyptian Khufu Pyramid Mastabas Offering Pot

A mixed group comprising: a miniature glazed composition shabti; two gold domed discs, one with a granule cluster to the apex; a gold lozenge cell with granulation to the rim; a square gold cell with flanking loops and granulation; a gold triangular panel with granulated dividers, triangles to the upper edge; a gold domed disc with quartered design and rosettes, granulated; a gold leaf-shaped pendant and chain links; three gold cells with carnelian inlays. 5.35 grams total, 6-46 mm



Acquired 1990s. English private collection. Property of an Essex gentleman.

A pale blue glazed mummiform shabti for an Imy-Khent priest, modelled standing on a rectangular base, arms crossed over the chest and holding a pick and a hoe, seed bag over the left shoulder, wearing a tripartite wig and false beard; two vertical columns of hieroglyphs to the front of the body, plain dorsal pillar; some of the hieroglyphs spelling the owner's name are poorly rendered, but appears to be Ba-ankh-sa-sobeky. 99 grams, 13.5 cm high



From a Worcester deceased estate. Property of a Cambridgeshire gentleman. Accompanied by an academic report by Egyptologist Paul Whelan.

Although the name of the shabti’s owner and, in particular, that of his parent, are rather unclear, the titles are clearly written and inform us that Ba-ankh-sa-sobeky served as an ‘Imy-khent priest’ associated with the Delta city of Mendes, where the principal deity was the sacred ram god Ba-neb-djedet (meaning ‘Ram, lord of Djedet’). The hieroglyph of the standing ram (Ba) forms the first part of the priest’s name. From the Late Period onwards the priestly title of the nearby city of Hermopolis Parva, ‘One who Separates the Two Gods’, also appears in Mendesian title strings, perhaps indicating that Hermopolis Parva and its religious cults had come under the control of Mendes; indeed, Mendes is thought to have been the capital of Egypt during the 29th Dynasty. The crocodile god Sobek was also worshipped at Mendes in later periods and Ba-ankh-sa-sobeky’s name appears to reflect both this reptilian deity and the traditional ram god of the city.

A ceramic black burnished ware pilgrim's flask of discoid form, short neck with collar, body with raised concentric roundels to both faces. 296 grams, 15.8 cm high



Acquired in Egypt in 1960 whilst working at the British Council. Ex Andrews collection.

This resembles an Etruscan style bucchero impasto flask of circa 700-600 B.C., suggesting that this was an import into Egypt; a comparable example is in the Penn Museum (inventory no. MS 3431).