Egyptian Steatite Scarab Collection

Modelled seated on a tongue-shaped base, with simple facial detailing and a suspension loop to the back. 5.76 grams, 21 mm



UK private collection before 2000. London collection, acquired on the UK art market.

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.

Composed mainly of alternating melon and oblate beads, the central feature with a large melon bead and a large discoid pendant, restrung. 42 grams, 29 cm



Ex Ancient Art Shop, Windsor, UK, 1990s. Ex private West County, UK, collection.

Proof etching on laid paper of plate 6 from Description de l'egypte entitled Île de Philae. Coupe et élévation de la galerie de l'est. Élévations des deux colonnades et de l'édifice du sud. Élévation du premier pylône. 252 grams, 104 x 68.5 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 Philae temple complex was one of the major monuments dismantled from its original location and relocated to a new site during the Aswan High Dam project. Most of the complex dates to the Ptolemaic Period, although some earlier and later elements remain.