Ethiopian Stamp Seal with King

20TH CENTURY A.D.

4 1/2 in. (138 grams, 11.5 cm high).

The figure with stylised face, the head surmounted by a high crown worn around a cap, possibly depicting a bishop or a king; the body closed within a cloak fastened at the front, a profile portrait to base for use as a seal impression. [No Reserve]

Provenance

Collected since the 1970s.
Ex Everitt collection, acquired by descent 2017.

Literature

Cf. Dubois, J., Roots and Flowerings of Ethiopia’s Traditional Crafts, Addis Ababa, 2008, p.20, for similar carved statuettes.

Footnotes

The small statuette comes probably from the area of Axum, the cradle of Ethiopian Christian civilisation and the place where the tabot of Zion (Ark of the Covenant) is believed to be hidden, containing the stone tablets of the Ten Commandments God gave Moses. The statuette represents probably a king (possibly King Solomon, ancestor of the Ethiopian Royal Dynasty) or an Ethiopian priest dressed with the crown (Akil) and the Holy Liturgy cloak(qaba).

CONDITION

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LOT 1803