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_900x900.jpg "Egyptian Steatite Scarab with Bes")
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_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 0466
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.
This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.
Cf. 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 0466
Egyptian Steatite Scarab with Bes
Estimate £120 - 170€140 - 200 (for guidance only)$160 - 230 (for guidance only)
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Egyptian Bronze Amun-Min-Kamutef Statuette
Late Period, 664-332 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £2,080
Modelled in the round as a votive ithyphallic figure wearing a double-plumed crown with a sun disc, holding a flail in his outstretched right hand and his erect phallus in the left; mounted on a custom-made display base. 538 grams total, 21 cm high including stand
Acquired on the London art market. Ex 'K' collection, 1990-2020s. This lot has been cleared against the Art Loss Register database, and is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.
Amun-Min-Kamutef was a syncretic deity combining the attributes of Amun, the supreme god of the Egyptian pantheon, and Min who represents sexual procreation. The iconography of Amun's ithyphallic form Kamutef is essentially that of Min, and serves to emphasise the sexual prowess of the god. Kamutef means 'bull of his mother' and appears to refer both to Amun's sky-goddess mother in her cow form and to the bull's sexual prowess and strength. -
Egyptian Steatite Scarab with Bes, Vulture and Cobras
New Kingdom, 1550-1070 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £247
Naturalistically carved scarab upper; underside carved with vulture atop a figure of Bes flanked by rearing cobras. 9.35 grams, 33 mm
UK private collection before 2000. Acquired on the UK art market. Property of a London gentleman. 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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Egyptian Wooden Cow Giving Birth Diorama with Two Figures
Middle Kingdom, 11th-12th Dynasty, 2023-1862 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £3,380
Comprising three figures to represent a calving scene: a standing cow or other quadruped giving birth to its young, its head, neck and forelegs emerging from the mother's rear, both with a black and white speckled coat; a standing male figure with articulated arms and pierced hands, wearing a kilt and cropped wig and with stylised facial detailing; a kneeling figure also with articulated arms, open-palm hands, wearing a kilt and cropped wig, stylised facial features; extensive remains of polychrome pigment. 113 grams total, 9.5-16 cm
From an early 20th century Home Counties collection. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.11597-199209. This lot has been cleared against the Art Loss Register database, and is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.
Such models would have been deposited in tombs; the purpose of such a scene was probably to evoke the season of spring, when calves were born, and the floodplain where farmers lived and raised their livestock.
