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LOT 0003
Egyptian Wooden Head of an Ibis
LATE PERIOD-PTOLEMAIC PERIOD, CIRCA 664-30 B.C.
7 1/4 in. (116 grams total, 18.5 cm wide).
Naturalistically carved ibis head from a composite statuette, with carefully detailed beak and eyes; traces of gesso and gilding remain; mounted on a custom-made display stand.
ProvenanceAmerican private collection, New York, acquired in London before 2000.
LiteratureCf. Waziry, M., Vestiges of Ancient Egypt,The Bubasteion Votive Cachette at Saqqara, Houston, 2023, pp.110-11, no. 48, for a complete example showing the wooden rod supporting the back of the head.
FootnotesThe ibis was sacred to the god Thoth, who was revered for his association with knowledge, writing, and healing. The god also acted as the recorder of the final judgment, which determined whether the deceased had lived a life of virtue. Vast numbers of ibises were mummified in religious centres such as Saqqara and Tuna el-Gebel, where they were offerings to the god and interred in extensive catacombs.
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AUCTIONS:
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Egyptian Jasper Poppy Head Amulet
New Kingdom, 18th-19th Dynasty, circa 1550-1213 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £104
Polished and with integral pierced suspension loop. 0.78 grams, 15 mm
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Egyptian Faience Mummy Bead Mask with Netting
Ptolemaic Period, 332-30 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £364
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 false beard; restrung with some later beads. 52.7 grams, 14.5 cm wide
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Egyptian Faience Scarab Collection
Mainly 15th-14th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £1,690
Including a white scarab with cartouche of Thutmose III; a white rectangle with two cartouches of Thutmose III, a white rectangle with hieroglyphs to one face for Amenhotep III and to the reverse those for Teje, one of his wives; and other items. 22.7 grams total, 12-28 mm
Acquired in the mid 1980s-1990s. Private collection, Switzerland, thence by descent. Private collection, since the late 1990s.
