Egyptian Steatite Scarab

Comprising: one upper body with crisply formed facial details, dorsal pillar, agricultural tools and seed bag to the reverse; one knee-length with a hieroglyphic inscription to the lower body; each mounted on a custom-made display stand. 135 grams total, 10.2-11.3 cm including stand



From a collection acquired on the UK art market from various auction houses and collections mostly before 2000. From an important Cambridgeshire estate; thence by descent.

Profile bust of an Egyptian male in nemes headcloth with uraeus to the brow, wesekh segmented collar; signed bottom right 'Howard Carter, 1905'; board to reverse with pencilled note 'Hatshepsu' and inked 'Watercolour painting signed H carter 1905 / remnants of an old Philips auction label on verso', with pencilled star motif. 898 grams total, 38.5 x 31 cm



with old Phillips label to the verso.

Hatshepsut was the longest-reigning female ruler in Egyptian history (1473-1458 B.C.), who undertook several military expeditions. Howard Carter's father, Samuel, was an illustrator for the Illustrated London News in the later 1800s. In 1891, Howard Carter accompanied Percy Newberry on an expedition focussing on First Intermediate Period tombs at the Middle Egyptian site of Beni Hasan, from which many of his original pieces survive. During his time at El-Amarna, the excavator Flinders-Petrie took Carter to visit the newly discovered royal tomb of Pharaoh Akhenaten. Carter made some sketches there which were published in The Daily Graphic on March 23, 1892, accompanying Petrie’s article on the tomb. These sketches were the first Egyptian drawings published by Howard Carter, and the first to convey the uniqueness of Amarna art to the European public.

Group of three scarabs, each with a hieroglyphic inscription to the underside. 5.05 grams total, 16-18 mm



Acquired on the UK art market from various auction houses and collections mostly before 2000. From an important Cambridgeshire estate; thence by descent.