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LOT 0423
Egyptian 'Maspero' Green Faience Amulet
LATE PERIOD, 664-332 B.C.
1 in. (2.09 grams, 28 mm).
Mask of Bes in low-relief with lentoid eyes and tongue extended. [No Reserve]
ProvenanceEx Emile Bouillon Bey, c. 1880.
From the Gaston Maspero Archaeological Fund.
with Hotel des Ventes du Perigord, Bergerac, 24 June 2007.
Property of a French collector.
Cf. Tinius, I., Altägypten in Braunschweig. Die Sammlungen des Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museums und des Städtischen Museums, Wiesbaden, 2011, p.135, no.231, for similar form.
FootnotesBes became one of ancient Egypt's most popular apotropaic deities from the New Kingdom onwards. Despite his somewhat fearful appearance, Bes was the patron and protector of pregnant women and children. He was also believed to protect from snakes.
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Egyptian Female Fertility Figurine Plaque
Late Period-Ptolemaic Period, 664-31 B.C.Estimate: £1,200 - 1,700 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £600
Carved rectangular plaque with central recess, carved image of a nude female modelled in the half-round with a deeply striated bag wig, arms by her side; traces of red and black pigment on the body; mounted on a custom-made stand. 502 grams total, 17.1 cm including stand
From a central London collection, formed 1980-2000. From the private collection of Mr David Barker, London, UK; thence by descent.
The rectangular limestone plaque almost certainly represents a shrine. Such plaques first appeared in Lower Egypt and became widespread in the Late Period and Ptolemaic era. They may have developed from earlier female figurines depicted on beds and are usually associated with the female goddesses Isis and Hathor, both powerful protectors of women and childbirth and associated with fertility. -
Egyptian Blue Glazed Shabti for the Priest of Amun Mi
Third Intermediate Period, 21st Dynasty, 1077-943 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £442
Applied black pigment to the wig, eyes, two hoes, seed bag at the reverse, and a vertical panel of hieroglyphic text on the lower body with the dedication: 'The Osiris, the Priest of Amun Mi, true of voice'. 132 grams, 11.8 cm
Probably from a priests’ cachette at Luxor. Acquired in Egypt by Lieutenant James Alexander Goodman in the 1920s. Thence by descent to his grandson.
Lieutenant Goodman served in the 4th Battalion Welsh Regiment during World War I and saw action in Palestine during the capture of Bethlehem, (for which he won an MC). After the war, he setup a business selling Fordson trucks and tractors in Alexandria, Egypt. A keen antiquarian, he collected ancient objects during his time in Alexandria and when he visited the pyramids at Giza. After his first marriage failed, he returned to the UK in the early 1930s. On his death in 1959, he passed his small collection of Egyptian objects on to his second wife, Ruby Goodman. On Ruby’s death in 1994, they were left to their second daughter, Rosemary Johnson, (née Goodman), and are currently in the possession of her son. -
Egyptian Alabaster Cosmetic Jar
Late Period, 664-332 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £124
Carved cosmetics jar, tapering gradually towards the top, with two small lugs at the shoulders, a collared rim, and flattened base. 77 grams, 87 mm
Private collection, Zurich, acquired in 1975 when the owners lived in Cairo (1975-1980). with Bonhams London, Antiquities, 23 July 2020, lot 119 (part). Property of a Bristol, UK, gentleman.
