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LOT 0482
Large Egyptian Gilt Bronze Head of Osiris
LATE PERIOD, 664-525 B.C.
4 1/2 in. (199 grams, 11.4 cm).
Modelled in the round wearing the atef crown (hedjet with lateral ostrich feathers) and uraeus to the brow with tail extending up the crown, detailed false beard with coiled finial; eyes recessed to accept inlays; tip of crown missing.
ProvenanceAcquired on the German art market, 1989-1995.
with The Museum Gallery, 19 Bury Place, London, WC1, UK, 1998-2003.
Property of a London based academic, 2003-present.
Cf. Daressy, G., Catalogue général des antiquités égyptiennes du Musée du Caire N° 38001-39384 Statues de divinités, Cairo, 1906, pl. XVI, no. 38.261, for complete statuette with comparable head.
FootnotesOsiris is a deity who represents death and fertility and is commonly regarded as the quintessential god of rebirth. Though he was once a mortal ruler, as a deceased entity, his domain was the Underworld. Abydos was the primary centre of Osiris’ cult, where a renowned yearly celebration of the god was held. This head comes from a once sizeable statuette of the god.
CONDITIONTimeLine Auctions follows a vetting process to ensure the authenticity and legality of all items, reinforcing our commitment to integrity and responsible trading. Each antiquity, antique, and coin lot undergoes thorough examination by a vetting committee of at least ten external specialists, professional trade association members, scientists, and archaeologists: Our Vetting Process
AUCTIONS:
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Restrung beadwork panel of exceptional colour depicting a mummy face mask with false beard; restrung with some later beads. 17.3 grams, 89 mm
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Egyptian Limestone Painted Shabti Inscribed for Ir-Nu
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Inscribed for Ir-nu; with carefully modelled face, large eyes and unnaturally large ears, wearing a neck-strap, a long tripartite wig with incised striations and a broad three-band collar; holding a pick in his left hand, a hoe in the right and a seed bag hanging over the left shoulder; the unusual position of the hands opposed on the chest; the text beginning in the vertical column running down the front of the figure, continuing in five horizontal bands with pale red-ochre pigment colouring to the top, middle and bottom bands; the same pigment used to colour the implements and also alternates with blue striations of the wig, the neck strap and details of the collar also in blue; the inscription from the Book of the Dead Chapter 6, reading: (Vertical column:) 'The illuminated one, the Osiris' (Horizontal rows:) 1) Ir-nu, true of voice, he says: O, this shabti 2) if one is counted, if one is reckoned to do the work 3) [to do all that is to be done in] the god’s land, to cultivate the riparian lands, transport by boat 4) [sand of] the west to the east, to act 5) at any time, to serve there (you) shall say true of voice(?). 1.4 kg total, 28.4 cm high including stand
Carieau family collection, Belgium, acquired in 1952. Ex Maspero collection, Paris, 1963. Acquired from a private European collection, in 1978. Accompanied by a copy of a technical report by Edmund S. Meltzer Ph.D. Accompanied by an academic report by Egyptologist Paul Whelan. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12080-217053. -
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