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LOT 0497
Egyptian Stone Smoothing Tool
3RD-LATE 1ST MILLENNIUM B.C.
3 3/8 in. (625 grams, 86 mm).
Spherical pounder with a smooth surface. [No Reserve]
ProvenanceFrom the private collection of Peter Clayton, FCILIP, Dip, Arch, FSA, FRNS, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, UK; formed since the late 1950s.
Accompanied by an old handwritten information card by Peter Clayton, collection no.134.
Stocks, D.A., Experiments in Egyptian Archaeology: Stoneworking technology in Ancient Egypt, London, 2003, pp.43-44, for an illustrated discussion of the use of pounders for both metal and stone.
FootnotesStone pounders were used to shape and harden metal, as well as to pound stone architectural elements and statues.
CONDITIONTimeLine Auctions follows a vetting process to ensure the authenticity and legality of all items, reinforcing our commitment to integrity and responsible trading. Each antiquity, antique, and coin lot undergoes thorough examination by a vetting committee of at least ten external specialists, professional trade association members, scientists, and archaeologists: Our Vetting Process
AUCTIONS:
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LOT 0497
Egyptian Stone Smoothing Tool
Estimate £40 - 60€46 - 70 (for guidance only)$54 - 81 (for guidance only)
Opening Bid
£5 (EUR 6; USD 7) +BP*
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Egyptian Terracotta Jar
New Kingdom, circa 16th-13th century B.C.Estimate: £300 - 400 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £5
With pointed foot, bulbous body, carinated shoulder and everted rim. 770 grams, 15.4 cm
Acquired Sunday 11th October 1992. From the private collection of Peter Clayton, FCILIP, Dip, Arch, FSA, FRNS, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, UK; formed since the late 1950s. Accompanied by an old handwritten information ticket.
Various forms of this vessel were produced during the New Kingdom (see Guidotti, M.C., Vasi dall’epoca protodinastica al Nuovo Regno, Museo Egizio di Firenze, Rome, 1991, pp. 218, nos. 339-340, and p. 227, no. 361). -
Egyptian Pale Blue Glazed Shabti.
Third Intermediate Period, 22nd Dynasty, circa 945-715 B.C.Estimate: £120 - 170 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £5
Mummiform figure with a high-relief bag wig, a top sash band, facial details, tools, a seed bag, and hieroglyphs on the lower body, all rendered in black pigment. 40 grams, 10.8 cm
with a privately curated collection, 1980s-early 2000s. From the private collection and estate of Christine Simons (1943-2025), West Midlands, UK. -
Large Egyptian Coptic Tunic Textile Fragment with Central Broad Clavus and Side Clavus
Circa 7th-8th century A.D.Estimate: £200 - 300 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £5
Comprising a large portion of tunic, with a complete section of the collar (maniakion) divided in successive decorative circular bands, ornamented with geometric patterns of floral elements, plants, interlaces; a central segmentum broadly decorated with geometric patterns, palmettes, triangles, and a round medallion with an impressive floral design; the segmentum is bordered by two purple stripes, flanked by other two bands of vegetal ornaments enclosed in medallions; the terminal part of the tunic still presents the fastening stripes of selvedges in rope forming the lowed border; S-twist yellow-orange and purple wool warp on linen; a long clavus in purple wool on linen decorated with vegetal interlaces, the borders meander decorated. 236 grams total including paper folder, 57.5 cm
Acquired 1970s-1996. Property of a North American collector. London collection, 2016.
The large fragment featuring geometric and vegetal decoration may date to the early period of the Islamic conquest, when tunic ornamentation began to take on an increasingly abstract and geometric character, often linked to the representation of plants and Nilotic flora. The rich decoration of the tunic and the use of purple suggest that it may have belonged to an aristocrat or a wealthy ecclesiastic of the Coptic-Greek population, or perhaps to a dignitary of the Umayyad Empire.
