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_900x900.jpg "Egyptian Steatite Scarab with Bes")
_200x200.jpg "Egyptian Steatite Scarab with Bes")
_900x900.jpg "Egyptian Steatite Scarab with Bes")
_200x200.jpg "Egyptian Steatite Scarab with Bes")
.jpg "Egyptian Steatite Scarab with Bes")
.jpg "Egyptian Steatite Scarab with Bes")
LOT 0455
Egyptian Steatite Scarab with Bes
LATE PERIOD, 664-332 B.C.
1 1/4 in. (10.7 grams, 31 mm).
Plano-convex in section with detailed obverse, the underside with the figure of Bes flanked by adoring baboons and sun discs.
ProvenanceEx London, UK collection, 1990s.
LiteratureCf. Matouk, F.S., Corpus du scarabée égyptien. Vol. 2: Analyse thématique, Beirut, 1976, p.345, no.584, for the baboon and Bes motif.
FootnotesBes became one of ancient Egypt's most popular apotropaic deities from the New Kingdom onwards. Despite his somewhat fearful appearance, Bes was the patron and protector of pregnant women and children and believed to protect the wearer from snakes. The depiction of baboons flanking Bes with their arms raised before the sun disk was a common feature on temple wall reliefs. In ancient Egyptian religious literature, baboons heralded the dawn and, thus, the rebirth of the sun.
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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 0455
Egyptian Steatite Scarab with Bes
Estimate £150 - 200€170 - 230 (for guidance only)$200 - 270 (for guidance only)
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Very Large Egyptian Faience Shabti for Hor-Aset
Late Period, 664-322 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £2,860
The upper part of a large mummiform shabti wearing a striated tripartite wig and long plaited divine beard, holding a pick in the left hand, the right hand holding a hoe and the cord of a seed bag hanging over his left shoulder; the face expertly modelled with carefully rendered cosmetic lines around the eyes, slightly smiling lips giving it a serene expression; plain back pillar terminating at the base of the wig; five horizontal rows of hieroglyphic inscription giving the dedication sḥḏ wsı͗r ḥr (-pn-n-) Ꜣst, ‘The illuminated one, the Osiris Hor (pen-en) Aset’ followed by a version of Chapter 6 from the Book of the Dead; mounted on a custom-made display stand. 509 grams total, 20 cm including stand
Ex Y.F. collection. Acquired in the US, 2011. with Medusa Ancient Art, Quebec. Private collection, Europe. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12374-226922. -
Egyptian Silver Cat Amulet
Late Period, 664-332 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £390
Modelled seated on a tongue-shaped base, with facial detailing and suspension loop to the back. 1.57 grams, 12 mm
From an early 20th century collection.
The cat was sacred to Bastet, a protective mother goddess and the daughter of the sun god Re. Amulets provided the wearer with the goddess's protection. -
Egyptian Faience Mummy Beadwork Mask with Sons of Horus
Ptolemaic Period, 332-30 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £416
A netted beadwork panel of annular and tubular glazed composition beads in blues, greens, black, cream and red-brown colours, depicting a mummy face mask with a false beard, a scarab with extended wings below, and beneath the 'Four Sons of Horus’, Duamutef, Qebehsenuef, Imsety, and Hapy joined together with areas of open netting of tubular examples; restrung with some later beads. 115 grams, 28.5 cm
Mariaud de Serres, Paris, 1990s.
Winged scarabs were often used as funerary amulets, and were believed to symbolise the rebirth and regeneration of the deceased. The Four Sons of Horus were deities responsible for protecting the deceased's internal organs. The jackal-headed Duamutef protected the stomach, the falcon-headed Qebehsenuef protected the intestines, the human-headed Imsety protected the liver, and the baboon-headed Hapy protected the lungs. These internal organs were often placed in canopic jars, each with the head of the respective Son of Horus. Amulets depicting these deities were placed within the mummy wrappings.
