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LOT 0478
Large Egyptian Faience Beaded Mummy Mask with Sons of Horus
PTOLEMAIC PERIOD, 332-30 B.C.
11 3/4 in. (123 grams, 30 cm).
Restrung 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, a scarab with extended wings below, the 'Four Sons of Horus’ beneath the scarab, joined together with areas of open netting of tubular beads; restrung with some later beads.
ProvenanceEx Mariaud de Serres, Paris, France, 1980-1990s.
From a London, UK, collection.
Cf. Manley, B., and Dodson, A., Life Everlasting. National Museum of Scotland Collection of Ancient Egyptian Coffins, Edinburgh, 2010, p.114, no.43, for a bead-work shroud incorporating the mask, winged scarab, and Four Sons of Horus.
FootnotesThe Four Sons of Horus were deities responsible for protecting the internal organs of the deceased. The human-headed Imsety protected the liver, the baboon-headed Hapy protected the lungs, the jackal-headed Duamutef protected the stomach, and the falcon-headed Qebehsenuef protected the intestines.
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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 0478
Large Egyptian Faience Beaded Mummy Mask with Sons of Horus
Sold for (Inc. bp): £351
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Egyptian Female Fertility Figurine Plaque
Late Period-Ptolemaic Period, 664-31 B.C.Estimate: £1,200 - 1,700 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £600
Carved rectangular plaque with central recess, carved image of a nude female modelled in the half-round with a deeply striated bag wig, arms by her side; traces of red and black pigment on the body; mounted on a custom-made stand. 502 grams total, 17.1 cm including stand
From a central London collection, formed 1980-2000. From the private collection of Mr David Barker, London, UK; thence by descent.
The rectangular limestone plaque almost certainly represents a shrine. Such plaques first appeared in Lower Egypt and became widespread in the Late Period and Ptolemaic era. They may have developed from earlier female figurines depicted on beds and are usually associated with the female goddesses Isis and Hathor, both powerful protectors of women and childbirth and associated with fertility. -
Egyptian Hardstone Heart Scarab in Gold Mount
Late Period, 664-332 B.C. and laterSold for (Inc. bp): £286
Carved scarab with textured carapace and detailed legs; set in a 19th century gold mount. 6.02 grams, 28 mm
From an early 20th century collection. -
Egyptian Hardstone Scarab with Bes
Late Period, 664-332 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £208
Plano-convex in section with detailed obverse, the underside with the figure of Bes flanked by adoring baboons and sun disks. 10.7 grams, 31 mm
Ex London, UK collection, 1990s.
Bes became one of ancient Egypt's most popular apotropaic deities from the New Kingdom onwards. Despite his somewhat fearful appearance, Bes was the patron and protector of pregnant women and children and believed to protect the wearer from snakes. The depiction of baboons flanking Bes with their arms raised before the sun disk was a common feature on temple wall reliefs. In ancient Egyptian religious literature, baboons heralded the dawn and, thus, the rebirth of the sun.
