LOT 0029

Large Egyptian Statue of Khnum

26TH DYNASTY, 664-525 BC

11" (1.1 kg total, 28cm including stand).

A substantial bronze figure of the ram-headed god Khnum advancing, wearing a pleated kilt, with an Atef crown with horizontal ram's horns surmounted by rearing ureai crowned with sun discs, a flail in his raised right hand, feet absent; mounted on a custom-made stand.

Property of a central London gentleman; formerly in the collection of Major J. Findley [1915-1990], Scotland, acquired in the 1950s-1960s; thence by descent; this lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by AIAD certificate number no.163506-10055.

Cf. Thomas, A.P., Egyptian Gods and Myths,Aylesbury, 1986, plate 12.

The god Khnum (or Khnemu) the 'Moulder' was one of the earliest gods of Egypt, worshipped especially at Philae and Elephantine, both in Nubia. He was thought to have made mankind of out of clay on a potter's wheel. It was Khnum who helped Isis to gather the severed fragments of the body of the god Osiris and re-made them. He was considered the father of the gods, along with Amun-Ra and Ptah.