LOT 0001

Egyptian Polychrome Sarcophagus Mask

21ST-23RD DYNASTY, 1000-800 BC

20 1/2" (6.1 kg, mask 51.5cm).

A large wooden sarcophagus mask, with polychrome decoration; to the chin, a black false beard; wearing a striped yellow and blue tripartite wig with black decoration at the ends, a large black scarab on the top of the head, with a striped yellow, crimson, and blue broad collar; the details of the eyes, cosmetic lines, brows and ears added in black; attached to a cloth bound backing board.

Property of an English gentleman; acquired Bonham's, New Bond Street, London, 28 October 2009, lot 263; previously the property of an American collector; acquired from the Samuel Haddad Gallery, Bloomingdales, New York, 1976; formerly acquired by Samuel Haddad from the Egyptian government of Anwar Sadat; accompanied by a copy of the signed certificate from Samuel Haddad, entitled 'Works of Art, with The Secret Eye'.

Jacobs, J. Pertinent and Impertinent, Arts and Antiquities Magazine, 1976, p.18-19, illustrated p.19; accompanied by a copy of the article. Accompanied by an Art Loss Register certificate.

This mask was part of possibly the largest collection of Egyptian antiquities ever sold; some eight thousand pieces were sold to Samuel Haddad by the Egyptian government of Anwar Sadat.