LOT 0017

Egyptian Limestone Relief with the Figure of the God Hapi

LATE-PTOLEMAIC PERIOD, CIRCA 664-30 B.C.

15 1/8 in. (10.85 kg total, 38.5 cm high including stand).

A relief depicting the upper half of the Nile divinity facing right, sporting a slender beard with curved end, wearing a tripartite wig surmounted by a floral crown in the form of a clump of papyrus with bent buds, and an elaborate multi-strand beaded broad collar; the pendulous breast characteristic of this type of figure; with both upper arms angled right towards traces of a libation vase and possible stem of a lotus flower; traces of a vertical register line behind the figure’s head; mounted on a custom-made display stand. [No Reserve]

From the estate of the late designer Anthony Powell (1935-2021).

This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.12497-230640.
This lot has been cleared against the Art Loss Register database, and is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.

Cf. Arnold, D., Temples of the Last Pharaohs, New York/Oxford, 1999, pp.127–28, fig. 86, for a similar representation.

Representations of fecundity figures can be traced from the Old Kingdom through to the Roman Period. These figures serve as divine embodiments of Egypt’s fertile productivity and are commonly depicted in series on the lower registers of temple walls, symbolising the fertility of each province. Historically, they have often been mistakenly referred to as the ‘Nile God’; however, the term Hapi, which sometimes identifies these figures, actually refers to the inundation rather than the River Nile itself, highlighting the source of Egypt’s fertility.