Large Egyptian Bead Panel with Four Sons of Horus and Winged Scarab

With dorsal pillar, hands folded across the chest holding a pick and hoe, with a front panel of faintly impressed hieroglyphic text. 72 grams, 10.7 cm



Ex M.S. Ciappara collection, Norfolk, UK, 1939-1950.

Shabti figures were created to carry out heavy manual tasks on behalf of a person in the afterlife. They were often depicted with tools in their hands, such as baskets, mattocks, and hoes. Over time, the number of shabtis in a standard elite burial increased, from one in the Eighteenth Dynasty to several in the Nineteenth Dynasty, to one for every day of the year by the Third Intermediate Period. The number of shabtis remained in the hundreds during the Late Period.

Modelled seated on a tongue-shaped base, with simple facial detailing and suspension loop to the back. 0.48 grams, 8 mm



From an early 20th century French collection.

The goddess Bastet was believed to be the daughter of the sun god and was shown with the features of a lion up until about 1000 B.C. when she was first portrayed as a cat or human with a cat head. As the daughter of Ra she was associated with the rage inherent in the sun god's eye which was considered to be his instrument of vengeance. Her development into a cat goddess occurred during the New Kingdom but did not fully develop until the Late Period. She was still associated with the destructive power of the sun and was shown on the prow of the solar boat, decapitating the evil serpent Apophis in the Book of the Dead. The maternal, protective and hunting characteristics of the cat are obvious in Bastet and she was seen as a protector of pregnant women and young children. In the Pyramid Texts she is invoked by the deceased king to act as his protector and to help him reach the sky to join the sun god; the king proclaims that Bastet is his mother and nurse. Like her counterpart, Sekhmet, Bastet has an aggressive side and, in a text from Karnak, Amenhotep II described his enemies being slaughtered like the victims of Bastet. The goddess had a shrine at Karnak, where she is known as the 'Lady of Asheru' which aligns her closely with the goddess Mut, the consort of Amun-Ra. Her most famous shrine was in the north-east Delta region, at Bubastis, and was known as Per-Bastet or 'the House of Bastet.' Herodotus describes the festival of Bastet as one of the most elaborate in all of Egypt and identifies her with the Greek Artemis. Cemeteries of cats have been excavated at Bubastis and at Saqqara and Memphis.

Composed of polychrome beads of mainly tubular and annular types; modern clasp. 31 grams, 72 cm long



Acquired before 1979. From the private collection of Mr F. A., South Kensington, London, UK; thence by descent 2014.

For thousands of years, artisans in Egypt created vibrant ceramics to echo the beauty of rare jewels. These ornaments were created with almost every material, colour and texture imaginable and they come from across Egypt and beyond: vibrant blue lapis lazuli from Afghanistan, glossy black obsidian from Turkey, and aqua-green turquoise from the Sinai. They were worn in life and, after death, they served as precious ornamentation for mummies.