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_900x900.jpg "Egyptian Marble Head of a Queen")
_200x200.jpg "Egyptian Marble Head of a Queen")
.jpg "Egyptian Marble Head of a Queen")
LOT 0006
Egyptian Marble Head of a Queen
PTOLEMAIC PERIOD, 323-30 B.C.
4 in. (5 5/8 in.) (313 grams total, 10 cm high (14.3 cm high including stand)).
Modelled in the half-round in Hellenistic style with a stephane and centre-parted hair, serene facial features including hooded eyes and pert lips; mounted on a custom-made wooden display stand.
ProvenanceEx Hanna Saba collection, Ambassador to Egypt-USA-France (1909-1992).
Private European collection.
Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D'Amato.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12083-218194.
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.
See Walker S., Higgs, P., Cleopatra Regina d’Egitto, Milano, 2000; Walker, S., Higgs, P., Cleopatra of Egypt, from History to the Myth, London, 2001; for discussion see Berman, L.M., The Cleveland Museum of Art Catalogue of Egyptian Art, New York, 1999; Andrews, C., van Dijk, J., Objects for Eternity: Egyptian Antiquities from the W. Arnold Meijer Collection, Mainz am Rhein, 2006.
FootnotesThe head is similar to various portraits of Ptolemaic queens, some of them identified as belonging to the famous Berenice II (246-222 B.C.), some others to Cleopatra VII Philopator (69-30 BC), the lover of Julius Caesar, the spouse of Mark Anthony and the last Queen of Egypt. The analogies with Berenike II’s portrait are noteworthy, especially with the portrait in the Cairo Museum (inv.JE 39517): the diadem and its position on the top of the head, similar physical features, and similar roundness of the cheeks.
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LOT 0006
Egyptian Marble Head of a Queen
Estimate £1,800 - 2,400€2,090 - 2,780 (for guidance only)$2,430 - 3,240 (for guidance only)
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Egyptian Turquoise Glazed Seated Harpocrates
Late Period, 26th Dynasty, circa 664-525 B.C.Estimate: £500 - 700 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £250
The god in a semi-seated pose with sidelock and uraeus; mounted on a custom-made stand. 10 grams total, 52 mm including stand
Collection de Son Excellence Mandou Riaz (1895-1963). Archéologie, François de Ricqlès, Paris, 11-12 November 2001, no.186. Private collection, London, UK, acquired from the above sale. Accompanied by a copy of the François de Ricqlès invoice. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.
While the semi-seated pose of the figurine may imply that it was part of a composite statuette, possibly featuring a separately modelled throne or seated on the lap of his mother, Isis, independent amulets with suspension loops depicting the god in this pose are also prevalent. Harpocrates is the Greek rendering of the Egyptian Hor-pa-khered, which translates as ‘Horus the Child’. This designation refers to Horus as the divine infant of Isis and Osiris. Wearing the amulet of Harpocrates could grant the wearer the same protection that Isis provided to her beloved son. -
Egyptian Faience Shabti for Hor-sa-Iset
Late Period, circa 4th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £975
Of mummiform type, wearing a tripartite wig and long plaited divine beard; holding a pick in the left hand, a hoe in the right, and the cord of a seed bag hanging over his left shoulder; standing on an integral plinth, a plain back pillar terminating at the base of the wig; two vertical panels of hieroglyphic inscription to the front, including dedication: sḥḏ wsỉr ḥr sꜢ Ꜣst, ‘The illuminated, the Osiris, Hor-sa-Iset’; mounted on a custom-made display stand. 124 grams, 15.2 cm
Jacques René Fiechter, Switzerland (1920-1950). with Auction Martin, Egyptian collection of André Bircher, 1949. with Cahn Auktionen AG, Basel, 5 November 2011, no.20. Private collection, Europe. Accompanied by copies of the relevant Cahn catalogue pages. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato. -
Egyptian Pre-Dynastic Greywacke Palette
Predynastic Period, Naqada III, circa 3300–2960 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £468
Circular in plan with smoothed faces, pierced through the edge. 238 grams, 13.3 cm
Acquired in the mid 1980s-1990s. Private collection, Switzerland, thence by descent. Private collection, since the late 1990s. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.
Palettes were utilitarian objects used in the Predynastic Period to grind and mix mineral-based eye pigments (including ochre, malachite, and haematite). Greywacke cosmetic palettes were easily carved in various shapes and sizes, including zoomorphic representations and geometric forms. The symbolism of this circular palette may be connected to the sun disc, which featured prominently in ancient Egyptian culture. The palette was so significant in Predynastic society that purely ceremonial versions, often impractically large for their original purpose, were produced for use in temple rituals. The most famous is the highly decorated Narmer Palette discovered at Hierakonpolis.
