Egyptian Steatite Scarab with Bes, Vulture and Cobras

Multi-stranded designer necklace composed of beads of mainly annular and cylindrical types; restrung. 26 grams, 72 cm



Acquired before 1979. From the private collection of Mr F. A., South Kensington, London, UK; thence by descent 2014. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.

For thousands of years, artisans in Egypt created vibrant ceramics to echo the beauty of rare jewels. These ornaments were created with almost every material, colour, and texture imaginable and they come from across Egypt and beyond: vibrant blue lapis lazuli from Afghanistan, glossy black obsidian from Turkey, and aqua-green turquoise from the Sinai. They were worn in life and, after death, they served as precious ornamentation for mummies.

Designer necklace composed of alternating white and turquoise tubular beads with oval spacer bead; a collar terminal as a central pendant with two rows of petal-shaped beads incorporating tubular and ring spacers suspended below. 41 grams, 76 cm long



Acquired in the mid 1980s-1990s. Private collection, Switzerland, thence by descent. Private collection, since the late 1990s. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.

An elaborate amulet in bright blue faience, modelled on four sides: Side 1: a diminutive figure of Harpokrates holding a snake in each hand and standing on the back of a lion, below which is a stylised mummiform (?) figure with a nemes headdress and a broad ornamental collar; Side 2: a baboon seated upon a nebyt collar, below which is a standing naked female figure wearing a Hathoric wig; Side 3: a standing naked female figure with right arm hanging by her side and left arm bent at the elbow and forearm positioned beneath her breasts, wearing a composite wig with striated lappets and uraeus to the front, surmounted by two tall ostrich feathers fronted by a sun disc; Side 4: a standing naked female figure with right arm hanging by her side and left arm bent at the elbow and forearm positioned beneath her breasts, wearing a lappet wig and uraeus to the front, surmounted by a tall two-plumed headdress fronted by a sun disc; the figure of a falcon tops the composition, which stands on an integral plinth. 21 grams, 60 mm



Mr F.D. collection, acquired on the European art market, 1975 to present. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.

This highly unusual amulet contains elements associated with Horus cippi. On such objects, Horus is depicted as a naked child, usually holding snakes and standing on crocodiles, though other dangerous animals, such as lions, are also represented with him. The goddesses Isis and Nephthys are typically found on cippi, and two of the three female figures on this amulet may represent these goddesses. However, their headdresses are untypical of either deity, while the third female figure sports the Hathor wig.