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LOT 0012
Egyptian Limestone Relief with Hieroglyphic List of Funerary Offerings
OLD KINGDOM, CIRCA 2513-2190 B.C.
14 1/2 in. (10.85 kg, 37 cm high).
Dressed panel with reserved rectangular border to upper edge with ochre and terracotta pigment; left edge with reserved rectangle and column of hieroglyphs picked out with pigment; the left edge with a reserved rectangle and column of hieroglyphs picked out with pigment giving the titles of the deceased: ı͗ry-pꜤt ḥꜢty-Ꜥ nb, 'member of the elite, foremost of action, and lord'; to the right, a tabulated list of offerings with the quantities for each indicated beneath.
ProvenanceAcquired in the mid-1980s-1990s.
Private collection, Switzerland, thence by descent.
Private collection, since the late 1990s.
Accompanied by an academic report by Egyptologist Paul Whelan.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.12199-222171.
See Fluck, C. & Helmecke, G., Burial Practice, in Fluck et al., Egypt: Faith After the Pharaohs, London, 2015, for discussion; cf. Murray, M.A., Saqqara Mastabas Part I, ERA 10, London, 1904, pl.XXIX, for a similar arrangement of a vertical column of inscription with larger hieroglyphs in the left frame next to the offering list in the 5th Dynasty tomb of User-netjer.
FootnotesThe majority of preserved Old Kingdom offerings lists come from tombs at Saqqara or other parts of the Memphite necropolis and were intended to ensure that the deceased would be sustainably provided for eternally. During the 4th Dynasty, around 165 different offerings could be listed for the deceased, but by the 5th Dynasty, almost half of these had disappeared while some new ones were added. Even then, these lists could include around a hundred offerings. Although non-consumable items such as eye paint and cloth are sometimes listed, most offerings are different kinds of food, such as bread, wine, grain, and fruit.
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LOT 0012
Egyptian Limestone Relief with Hieroglyphic List of Funerary Offerings
Sold for (Inc. bp): £14,950
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Egyptian Black Stone Kohl Vessel
Middle Kingdom, circa 1991-1665 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £572
Squat in profile with integral discoid base, broad discoid rim to the mouth. 190 grams, 53 mm wide
Swiss collection, acquired in 1998.
Such vessels contained kohl, an eyepaint either green or black. Kohl was used as a cosmetic in daily life, mentioned in funerary texts as necessary make-up in the presentation of the deceased before Osiris, and served as a medical treatment for eye ailments. The small size of kohl jars and their tiny capacity indicate the preciousness and costliness of the contents. -
Egyptian Faience Mummy Bead Mask with Four Sons of Horus
Ptolemaic Period, 332-30 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £312
A netted beadwork panel of annular and tubular glazed composition beads in blues, greens, black, cream and red-brown colours, depicting a mummy face mask with a false beard, a scarab with extended wings below, and the 'Four Sons of Horus’ figures beneath the scarab, joined together with areas of open netting of tubular examples; restrung with some later beads. 113 grams, 30 cm
Ex Mariaud des Serres, Paris, France, 1990s.
Winged scarabs were often used as funerary amulets and believed to symbolise the deceased's rebirth and regeneration. The Four Sons of Horus were deities responsible for protecting the deceased's internal organs. Here, on the left, is the erect-eared jackal-headed Duamutef who protects the stomach, followed by the falcon-headed Qebehsenuef, who protects the intestines, then the human-headed Imsety, protector of the liver and, finally, the baboon-headed Hapy on the right, protector of the lungs. The internal organs were often placed in canopic jars with the head of the respective Son of Horus. Amulets depicting these deities were placed within the mummy wrappings. -
Large Egyptian Expedition Lithograph Print with Hieroglyphs
1820 A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £111
Willemin - Thèbes - Hypogées - Manuscrit sur papyrus en caractères hiéroglyphiques. Troisième partie - Proof etching on laid paper of plate 74 from La Description de l’Égypte: Antiquités, Volume II: Commission des sciences et arts d’Égypte with later backing sheet. 360 grams, 136 x 66 cm
From the collection of a North American priest. Acquired between 1981-1996. Property of a North American collector.
Produced between February 1802 and 1830 on the orders of Napoleon Bonaparte; published between 1809 and 1828. Just 1,000 copies were distributed to various institutions, printed on on laid paper with an 'Égypte ancienne et moderne' watermark. The book is subtitled Recueil des observations et des recherches qui ont été faites en Égypte pendant l’expédition de l’Armée française, publié par les ordres de Sa Majesté l’Empereur Napoléon le Grand (Gathering of observations and discoveries which were made in Egypt during the expedition of the French army, published on the orders of His Majesty the Emperor Napoleon the Great). It was the world's first encyclopedia devoted exclusively to the remains of ancient Egypt. The plates of this book are the first to present the archaeological sites of Thebes (Luxor). The papyrus manuscript was recovered from the underground chambers (hypogea). The original papyrus is now held in the Bibliothèque Nationale (1-19), Paris (Papyrus Cadet).
