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LOT 0522
Large Egyptian Expedition Lithograph Print
1820 A.D.
51 1/4 x 26 1/2 in. (360 grams, 130 x 87 cm (sheet)).
Willemin - Thèbes - Hypogées - Manuscrit sur papyrus en caractères hiéroglyphiques. Quatrième partie - Proof etching on laid paper of plate 75 from La Description de l’Égypte: Antiquités, Volume II: Commission des sciences et arts d’Égypte with later backing sheet.
ProvenanceFrom the collection of a North American priest.
Acquired between 1981-1996.
Property of a North American collector.
Cf. Description de l'Égypte: ou recueil des observations et des recherches qui ont été faites en Égypte pendant l'expédition de l'armée française, publié par les ordres de Sa Majesté l'Empereur Napoléon le Grand, Antiquités, planches, tome deuxième, Paris, 1822, planche 75.
LiteratureCf. Description de l'Égypte publié par les ordres de Napoléon Bonaparte, Köln, 1994, pp.250-251.
FootnotesProduced between February 1802 and 1830 on the orders of Napoleon Bonaparte; published between 1809 and 1828. Just 1,000 copies were distributed to various institutions, printed on on laid paper with an 'Égypte ancienne et moderne' watermark. The book is subtitled Recueil des observations et des recherches qui ont été faites en Égypte pendant l’expédition de l’Armée française, publié par les ordres de Sa Majesté l’Empereur Napoléon le Grand (Gathering of observations and discoveries which were made in Egypt during the expedition of the French army, published on the orders of His Majesty the Emperor Napoleon the Great). It was the world's first encyclopedia devoted exclusively to the remains of ancient Egypt. The plates of this book are the first to present the archaeological sites of Thebes (Luxor). The papyrus manuscript was recovered from the underground chambers (hypogea). The original papyrus is now held in the Bibliothèque Nationale (1-19), Paris (Papyrus Cadet).
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Egyptian Faience Ramesses II Offering Cup
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Glazed blue and painted with two conjoined rectangular panels, one containing the king's cartouche, the other with the epithet 'beloved of Osiris'. 31 grams, 45 mm
Acquired in Europe before 1994.
Also known as Ramses the Great, famed for his building projects and military achievements, this king was the second longest reigning in Egyptian history, ascending the throne at age 13 and remaining there for around 67 years. -
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Large Egyptian Bronze Body of Horus-Harpocrates
Ptolemaic Period, 332-30 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £520
An acephalic seated nude statuette of Horus-Harpocrates, legs held together and arms by his side, semi-naturalistic anatomical detailing; cleaned. 1.67 kg total, 22 cm high (26 cm high including stand)
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Horus, son of Isis and Osiris, was considered a solar deity who overcame darkness and defeated the chaotic forces of his evil uncle, the god Seth. Egyptian pharaohs considered themselves to be reincarnations of Horus. In his youthful form, Horus the child embodies the new sun and all associated benefits. In Graeco-Roman Egypt he became Harpocrates, son of Serapis and Isis, the deity-symbol of rebirth and fertility, perhaps the most popular deity to be represented in Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt. -
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Egyptian Bronze Striding Figure of Montu the Falcon God of War
Late Period, 26th-30th Dynasty, 664-343 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £11,050
With falcon head, wearing a shendyt kilt and a tripartite striated wig, surmounted by two ostrich plumes and fronted by a sun disc and double uraei, wearing a collar and holding a staff with a falcon-headed terminal emerging from a papyrus umbrel; standing on an integral rectangular plinth with a single line of inscription that probably ran around all sides, of which a few hieroglyphs remain, the front reading: '..? Lord (of)' and the left side reading 'Thebes, (that) he may give life..', the last hieroglyph on the front side and the first three on the left give the familiar epithet of Montu, 'Lord of Thebes' which is followed by the request from the statue’s dedicator for Montu to bestow life (and perhaps other benefits) upon him/her; accompanied by a custom-made tiered display base. 553 grams, 22.7 cm high (639 grams total, 25.5 cm high including stand)
Japanese collection, prior to 1980. AAL Geneva, Switzerland, 1980. British collection since 1999. with Pierre Bergé & Associés, Paris, 2 February 2017, no.78 (20,000-22,000 Euros). Accompanied by copies of the relevant Pierre Bergé & Associés catalogue pages. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.12132-213615.
The statuette was most likely an offering made at one of Montu’s cult centres in the Theban region to ensure for the dedicator the good favour of the god. Commensurate with his warlike nature, Montu can sometimes be depicted holding a khepesh sickle-bladed sword, yet here he holds a rarer attribute: a carefully detailed staff with a falcon-headed terminal emerging from a papyrus umbel. This almost certainly symbolises Montu’s association with Re – the Heliopolitan sun-god also depicted with a falcon head - as his Upper Egyptian counterpart.
