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LOT 0517
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.
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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Large Egyptian Expedition Lithograph of Reliefs at Esna
Early 19th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £7
Proof etching on laid paper of plate 79 from Description De L'Égypte : Ou, Recueil Des Observations Et Des Recherches Qui Ont Été Faites En Égypte Pendant L'expédition De L'Armée Française. Seconde Edition. Dediee Au Roi, entitled Esné (Latopolis). Zodiaque Sculpté Au Plafond Du Portique. 106 grams, 106 x 35 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 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 Temple of Khnum at Esna, visible today, is mostly of Ptolemaic and Roman date. The decorative zodiac dates to the reign of Ptolemy III.