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LOT 0505
Egyptian Steatite Scarab Collection
MOSTLY LATE MIDDLE KINGDOM, SECOND INTERMEDIATE PERIOD, 1780-1500 B.C.
1/2 - 1 1/8 in. (32.6 grams total, 15-28 mm).
Mixed group of design scarabs and scaraboids, including: stylised foliate motif with a sa sign; central entwined cords with curled tops and tails, and nefer signs; a falcon with outspread wings and sun disc above, surmounting a fallen enemy; a group of hieroglyphs: a central mes flanked by reed leaves, with a water sign n above, and a neb sign below; a falcon with outspread wings, with two maat feathers and stylised cobras above; a central hes vase flanked by rearing cobras. [7]
ProvenanceFrom the collection of a gentleman, acquired on the London art market in the 1990s.
This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.
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AUCTIONS:
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Egyptian Stone Eye Inlay Pair
Ptolemaic Period, 332-30 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £208
White stone sclera with black stone iris, green stains visible on edges from copper rims. 10.5 grams total, 30-32 mm
Acquired on the UK art market, 1977-1979. Private collection, London. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.
Egyptian coffin eye inlays were both decorative and symbolic, intended to make the coffin appear lifelike and assist the deceased in the afterlife. Typically, they featured a white sclera (glass, alabaster or quartz), a dark iris (glass or often obsidian), and sometimes red paint at the inner corner. The eyes were often set in bronze or copper frames, occasionally with faience or bronze eyebrows. -
Egyptian Black Stone Scarab in Gilt Bronze Memorial Locket
Late Period, 664-332 B.C. and laterSold for (Inc. bp): £572
Haematite scarab with carapace and mouth, mounted in the centre of a 19th century memorial locket with glazed inner chamber, obverse with six agate cabochons in cells and applied filigree around the central cell mimicking legs. 24.95 grams, 53 mm
From a 19th century collection based on the locket. Acquired on the UK art market. From the collection of G.M.R.H., London, UK. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato. -
Egyptian Black Hardstone Scarab
Late Period, 664-332 B.C.Estimate: £350 - 450 (‡+bp*)
Opening Bid: £175
Dark green hardstone with paler speckles; with a boldly carved head, clypeus, prothorax and elytra, and legs indicated at the sides; plain underside. 17 grams, 29 mm
Ex Irene Newman, Birdham, Chichester, West Sussex, England. with Stride & Son Auctioneers, Chichester, West Sussex, England, 23 April 2015, no.1599 [Part]. Acquired by the present owner at the above sale. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.
The scarab, which represented the dung beetle, was the most popular amulet in ancient Egypt for approximately two thousand years until the Ptolemaic Period when it gradually fell out of favour. The popularity of scarabs extended beyond the borders of Egypt, and they were also distributed and produced in other regions, such as Phoenicia and Israel. The beetle is named khepri, derived from the verb 'to come into existence', and was considered the embodiment of the creator god Khepri, who was self-engendered. The ancient Egyptians mistakenly believed that the young beetle emerging from the dung ball was the result of an act of self-creation.
