Egyptian Silver Fly Amulet

Comprising a fragment of a clavus in white and purple linen and wool, S torsion, the central scene representing a dancer; a small fragment of a double segmenta, ornamented with vegetal embroidery; two orbiculi, one embroidered with a flower inside a rondo and with a cross in the centre, the other with a simple vegetal ornament. 40 grams total including package, 7.2-15.7 cm



Acquired 1970s-1996. Property of a North American collector. London collection, 2016.

The segmentum with the dancer was probably part of the vertical clavus of a tunic; it is highly probable that the embroidery refers to the Dionysian cycle, with dancers, animals and probably, in the missing parts, hunters.

Wedjat amuletic bead in dark brown faience with applied black detailing to the pupil and brow. 8.63 grams, 44 mm



with Archaeologia, Switzerland, before 1983. Ex private North American collection. London private collection, 2016.

Proof etching on laid paper of plate 79 from Vol .I of Description de l'Égypte : ou, Recueil des observations et des recherches qui ont été faites en Égypte pendant l'expédition de l'armée française. entitled Esné (Latopolis) Zodiaque sculpté au plafond du portique. 187 grams, 105 x 70 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 in Upper Egypt has elements from the New Kingdom, but most of it dates to the Ptolemaic and Roman periods. This elaborate zodiac dates to the reign of Ptolemy III.