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_900x900.jpg "Egyptian Painted Wooden Model of a Cow Giving Birth, Together with Two Figures")
_200x200.jpg "Egyptian Painted Wooden Model of a Cow Giving Birth, Together with Two Figures")
.jpg "Egyptian Painted Wooden Model of a Cow Giving Birth, Together with Two Figures")
LOT 0428
Egyptian Painted Wooden Model of a Cow Giving Birth, Together with Two Figures
MIDDLE KINGDOM, 11TH-12TH DYNASTY, 2023-1862 B.C.
3 3/4 - 6 1/4 in. (111 grams total, 9.5-16 cm).
Composed of three figures: a standing cow or other quadruped giving birth to its young, its head, neck and forelegs emerging from the mother's rear, both with a black and white speckled coat; a standing male figure with articulated arms and pierced hands, wearing a kilt and cropped wig and with stylised facial detailing; a kneeling figure also with articulated arms, open-palm hands, wearing a kilt and cropped wig, stylised facial features; extensive remains of polychrome pigment.
ProvenanceFrom an early 20th century Home Counties collection.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.11597-199209.
Cf. Barker, G., Preparing for Eternity: Funerary models and wall scenes from the Egyptian Old and Middle Kingdoms, Oxford, 2022, p.113 figure 4.2, for a near-identical calving cow figure, possibly from Meir (now in the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, inv. no. 910.18.16.1-3); cf. The Metropolitan Museum, New York, accession numbers 2021.41.170 and 11.150.5, for similar human and animal figures of this date.
FootnotesSuch models would have been deposited in tombs; the purpose of such a scene was probably to evoke the season of spring, when calves were born, and the floodplain where farmers lived and raised their livestock.
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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 0428
Egyptian Painted Wooden Model of a Cow Giving Birth, Together with Two Figures
Estimate £3,500 - 4,500€4,060 - 5,220 (for guidance only)$4,730 - 6,080 (for guidance only)
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Egyptian Gold Goddess Bastet Cat Amulet
Late New Kingdom-Third Intermediate Period, circa 1069-900 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £1,170
Modelled seated on a tongue-shaped base, with simple facial detailing and suspension loop to the back. 0.48 grams, 8 mm
From an early 20th century French collection.
The goddess Bastet was believed to be the daughter of the sun god and was shown with the features of a lion up until about 1000 B.C. when she was first portrayed as a cat or human with a cat head. As the daughter of Ra she was associated with the rage inherent in the sun god's eye which was considered to be his instrument of vengeance. Her development into a cat goddess occurred during the New Kingdom but did not fully develop until the Late Period. She was still associated with the destructive power of the sun and was shown on the prow of the solar boat, decapitating the evil serpent Apophis in the Book of the Dead. The maternal, protective and hunting characteristics of the cat are obvious in Bastet and she was seen as a protector of pregnant women and young children. In the Pyramid Texts she is invoked by the deceased king to act as his protector and to help him reach the sky to join the sun god; the king proclaims that Bastet is his mother and nurse. Like her counterpart, Sekhmet, Bastet has an aggressive side and, in a text from Karnak, Amenhotep II described his enemies being slaughtered like the victims of Bastet. The goddess had a shrine at Karnak, where she is known as the 'Lady of Asheru' which aligns her closely with the goddess Mut, the consort of Amun-Ra. Her most famous shrine was in the north-east Delta region, at Bubastis, and was known as Per-Bastet or 'the House of Bastet.' Herodotus describes the festival of Bastet as one of the most elaborate in all of Egypt and identifies her with the Greek Artemis. Cemeteries of cats have been excavated at Bubastis and at Saqqara and Memphis. -
Egyptian Silver Isis Amulet
Late Period, 664-332 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £338
Isis enthroned wearing a cow's horn headdress with a solar disc, suckling the infant Horus on her lap; loop to rear of crown; mounted on a custom-made stand. 6.2 grams, 39 mm (20.7 grams total, 62 mm including stand)
Ex Mythes & Legend. Ex Cohen collection 2011. Property of a French collector.
In ancient Egyptian mythology, Isis was the sister-wife of Osiris and the mother of the sky god Horus. She is associated with aspects of fertility and motherhood and is often depicted in various artworks seated in a nursing pose with her son Horus on her lap, as here. -
Egyptian Faience Block Bead of Thutmose III
New Kingdom, 18th Dynasty, circa 1504-1452 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £442
With impressed hieroglyphs on all four faces, two sides giving the throne name of Thutmose III (Men-kheper-Re), the others mentioning the god Amun. 1.1 grams, 12 mm
From the old collection of Emile Bouillon Bey, c. 1880. Ex Gaston Maspero archaeological fund. Property of a French collector.
Thutmose III was a renowned warrior king widely revered even centuries after his reign.
