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LOT 0497
Egyptian Limestone 'Floral' Inlay Group
ROMAN PERIOD, 30 B.C.-323 A.D. OR EARLIER
1/2 - 3/4 in. (35 grams total, 14-18 mm).
Group of discoid inlay plaques or gaming counters, crinoids with cinquefoil motif. [20, No Reserve]
ProvenanceFrom a central London ADA dealership, 1980-1990.
FootnotesFlowers were symbolic of rebirth due to the daily reopening of their petals after nightfall. As a result, they were widely used in domestic settings, religious and funerary contexts, and as adornments. Similar rosette discs, like those recovered from the Ramesside Period palace at Qantir, were used as decorative elements in royal palaces.
CONDITIONTimeLine 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:
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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 Faience Mummy Bead Mask
Ptolemaic Period, 332-30 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £286
A panel of small glazed composition beads in various colours representing a mummy face mask with false beard with netted border; restrung with some later beads. 42 grams, 13.5 cm
Ex Mariaud des Serres, Paris, France, 1990s. -
Egypto-Phoenician Hardstone Scarab Group
Late 1st millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £650
Comprising five scarabs: one with a djed pillar surrounded by nwb signs; one with a jackal-headed Anubis holding a staff before a figure, with the scales of Maat above; one with a seated baboon sporting a crescent and sun disc headdress facing a royal cartouche of Thutmose III men-kheper-Re; one with a standing bird and other hieroglyphs; the largest one with worn underside. 1.97 grams total, 14-26 mm
From an early 20th century Home Counties, UK, collection.
The scarab, which represented the dung beetle, was the most popular amulet in ancient Egypt for approximately two thousand years until the Ptolemaic Period when it gradually fell out of favour. The popularity of scarabs extended beyond the borders of Egypt, and they were also distributed and produced in other regions, such as Phoenicia and Israel. The beetle is named khepri, derived from the verb 'to come into existence', and was considered the embodiment of the creator god Khepri, who was self-engendered. The ancient Egyptians mistakenly believed that the young beetle emerging from the dung ball was the result of an act of self-creation.
