Egyptian Stone Scarab in Bronze Pendant

Rectangular in plan with irregular left and lower edge; carved in low-relief in two registers with narrow border; lower register - plain with cream-white pigment; upper register – a combat or possibly post battle or tribute scene depicting two profile male heads with stern features, lentoid eye, strong mouth and chin, wearing brow-bands, probably Western Asiatics; with the leg of a kneeling(?) figure to the right; the reverse dressed but undecorated; two modern mounting holes to the long edge. 5.11 kg, 33 cm



Private collection, 1980s. Private European collection, 2008. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12853-241665. 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.

Scenes of captured enemies and especially foreign envoys in audience with the pharaoh depict figures in various humiliating, supplicatory poses, including prostration and kneeling.

The head of goddess Bastet modelled in the round with alert ears and eyes, fine whisker detailing to the gently elongated muzzle, hair detailing to the inner edges of the ears and the lower outer edges pierced to accept separate earrings, incised scarab on the top of the head. 92.5 grams, 58 mm



Elizabeth Helene Demarest Osten Driesen (1892-1931). Given as a gift to her granddaughter, Lady Annabel Sutherland, by descent in the late 1960s. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.12762-237137. 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.

In ancient Egypt, the cat was venerated as the sacred animal of the goddess Bastet, whose principal cult centre was Bubastis in the Nile Delta. Although cats were once part of folk practice, their veneration as part of formal cults spread across Egypt during the Late Period. Bastet was closely linked to lion-headed goddesses like Sekhmet, Tefnut, and Pakhet, and the cat itself became associated with solar imagery: the Book of the Dead portrays the sun god as a Great Cat vanquishing Apophis beneath the sacred Ished Tree. The cat could also embody the Eye of the Sun or, more often in Bastet’s case, the Eye of the Moon. Mummified cats were frequently dedicated as votive offerings, and some of their feline-shaped coffins were adorned with finely crafted bronze heads to enhance their divine likeness.

Comprising two scarabs with striated wing cases and ribbed underside. 7.5 grams total, 18-20 mm



From the collection of a gentleman, acquired on the London art market in the 1990s. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

The scarab amulet was a powerful symbol of rebirth, transformation, and protection in ancient Egypt. Modelled after the beetle linked to the sun god Khepri, it represented the cycle of life and regeneration. Used from the Middle Kingdom (c. 2050 BCE) onwards, scarabs served as funerary amulets, personal charms, and seals—often inscribed with prayers or names—reflecting both spiritual beliefs and daily life.