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LOT 0515
Egyptian Scarab in Gold Mount
NEW KINGDOM, CIRCA 1500 B.C. OR EARLIER
3/4 in. (2.34 grams, 18 mm).
A glazed composition scarab with detailed serrated legs and with a-n-r, nub and nefer signs around a cartouche containing the incomplete name of Thutmose III to the underside; set in a later gold mount for suspension.
ProvenanceAcquired 1969-1999.
London collection of the late Mr S.M., thence by descent.
Cf. Ben-Tor, D., The Scarab: A Reflection of Ancient Egypt, Jerusalem, 1993, p.32, for a discussion of the a-n-r symbolism on scarabs.
FootnotesThe sign groups surrounding the cartouche are indicative of Asiatic scarab production of the Second Intermediate Period, where the craftsmen did not understand the meaning of hieroglyphs and used them for purely decorative reasons. This suggests that either the beetle and sun-disc signs in the cartouche are unintentionally similar to those of Thutmose III, or that this is a later scarab with an inaccurately rendered name of the king
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AUCTIONS:
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Egyptian Glass Offering Cup Fragment Group with Cartouche
New Kingdom, 18th Dynasty, 1386-1349 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £78
A group of fragments of blue and white glass offering cups; one with a partial cartouche of Amenhotep III. 14 grams total, 30-34 mm
From a UK private collection, 1975-1978. -
Egyptian Blue Faience Shabti of Nesitanebisheru
Third Intermediate Period, 21st Dynasty, circa 980-935 B.C.Estimate: £30,000 - 40,000 (‡+bp*)
Opening Bid: £15,000
A vibrant blue-glazed mummiform shabti of princess Nesitanebisheru, daughter of Pinudjem II, on a custom-made display stand; modelled with arms crossed over the chest, holding a hoe in each hand, wearing a tripartite wig; netted seed bag painted on the back; the bottom half of the figure bearing eight columns of hieroglyphic text in black giving a version of the shabti spell reading: (1) The illuminated one, the Osiris Nesitanebisheru, she says: (2) ‘O this shabti, if one counts, if one reckons to do (3) for the Osiris Nesitanebisheru, to cultivate the fields, (4) to irrigate the riparian lands, to transport by boat the sand of (5) the east (to) the west and vice-versa – now indeed obstacles are implanted (6) therewith – as a man at his duties (to do for ?) (7) the Osiris Nesitanebisheru, to do all the works that are to be done (8) in God’s land at any time to serve, ‘here I am,’ (you shall say). 314 grams total, 16.5 cm high including stand
The object comes from the well known Deir el-Bahari cache (near Thebes) first discovered in 1870. Ex Zurich Antiquities Fair. Ex R. Liechti, Geneva, acquired from the above. Accompanied by an academic report by Egyptologist Paul Whelan. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.11598-198961.
Nesitanebisheru’s burial was discovered in the famous ‘Royal Cache I’ at Deir el-Bahari (DB 320), with many dozens of coffins and vast quantities of funerary equipment belonging to pharaohs, including Thutmose III and Ramesses II, queens, and other royals, as well as elite members of society that had been reburied by Amun priests to hide them from tomb robbers. Nesitanebisheru’s coffin and burial equipment, including her shabtis, were found at the very end of the c. 70m long tomb in a chamber which served as a family vault for her father, the High Priest of Amun, Pinudjem II, and his principal wife Neskhons. While her worker shabtis are all mostly similar in style with 6-8 text columns, the composition of their inscriptions are not consistent with different openings and variations to the content (often including several peculiarities). Curiously, her titles do not appear in her shabti inscription, unlike those for her mother. -
Egyptian Blue glazed Faience Cup with Hieroglyphs
Late Period-Ptolemaic Period, circa 664-30 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £286
A blue glazed composition chalice, with enigmatic hieroglyphs on the body in darker blue; mounted on an acrylic base. 36 grams total, 65 mm high including stand
From an old UK collection. From the private collection of Alf Baxendale (1941-2016) part 2, keen Egyptologist, member of the Egyptology Society, trustee of the Amarna Trust; thence by descent. Accompanied by an identification display card. Accompanied by a copy of his obituary published in Horizon, The Amarna Project and Amarna Trust newsletter, Issue 18, 2017, p.21, by Barry John Kemp, CBE, FBA, Professor Emeritus of Egyptology at the University of Cambridge and directing excavations at Amarna in Egypt.
Probably a foundation deposit.
