Egyptian Wooden Mummy Face Mask

Finely carved, with naturalistic detailing to the upper body, legs shown folded beneath the body with suspension loop at centre. 6.8 grams, 24 mm



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 number no.11846-207088.

The Egyptians saw the scarab as a symbol of renewal and rebirth. The beetle was associated with the sun god because scarabs roll large balls of dung in which to lay their eggs, a behavior that the Egyptians thought resembled the progression of the sun through the sky from east to west. Scarab amulets were used for their magical rejuvenating properties by both the living and the dead. The regenerative powers of scarabs such as the one offered here could be used by either the living or the dead for healing and protection. The striking red/orange colour of the carnelian stone used to produce this amulet strengthens its solar associations.

The woven textile fragment of linen and wool with a large horizontal decorative band depicting octagonal rosettes inscribed in rhomboids; the rosettes divided by stylised columns decorated with foliage elements; the band edged by two lateral segments formed of octagonal rosettes enclosing flowers, bordered with scalloped geometries; at the bottom four stylised dancers. 285 grams, 60 x 35.5 cm



Acquired 1970s-1996. Property of a North American collector. London collection, 2016.

It is the lower part of a cloak from the Fatimid era. The end of the Coptic period was characterised by a treatment of eight-lobed rosettes, a current motif in Muslim art. The four dancers are made as simple signs.

In various colours representing a mummy face mask with false beard; restrung. 41.9 grams, 14.5 cm wide



Acquired 1970s onwards. Private collection of Michael O'Hara, Cambridgeshire, UK. Ex private collection of Benjamin Hyde-Smith, Hertfordshire, UK