Loading, please wait...
LOT 0509
Phoenician and Later Glass Eye Bead collection
6TH-3RD CENTURY B.C. AND LATER
3/8 - 1/2 in. (14.1 grams total, 10-13 mm).
A mixed group of seven polychrome glass beads incorporating with circular or 'eye' and swirling motifs. [7, No Reserve]
ProvenanceAcquired in the mid 1980s.
Property of a Harrow, UK, gentleman.
TimeLine 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:
TimeLine is a leading auction house specialising in antiquities, ancient art, collectables, natural history, coins, medals, and books. Our auctions offer museums, collectors, historians, and enthusiasts the opportunity to acquire unique and historically significant pieces.
-
Egyptian Bull-Headed Apis Shabti Head
New Kingdom, Ramesside Period, 1295-1069 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £1,690
A glazed composition shabti fragment representing the head of a bull surmounted by a sun-disc between its horns, wearing a lappet wig and with human arms crossed over the chest; the missing lower portion continued the shape of a mummiform human body; the back of the figure flat and bearing faint traces of inscription, the opening begins with a common shabti introduction which appears to be followed (as would be expected) by the name of syncretic deity Osiris Apis. 34 grams, 60 mm
Acquired early 1990s. Ex private American collection; thence by descent. Private collection since 1998. Accompanied by a scholarly note by Egyptologist Paul Whelan.
The figure comes from the catacombs at Saqqara where the sacred Apis bulls were buried, known today as the Serapeum. The Apis bull was associated principally with the gods Ptah, patron deity of Memphis, and Osiris, and when one died it was afforded the kind of lavish burial befitting a pharaoh. All bull-headed shabtis date to the 19th and 20th Dynasties and were left as offerings beside the huge granite sarcophagi of the deified bulls. These shabtis were among hundreds of objects recovered from the catacombs by Auguste Mariette during his excavations there between 1850-1853. The Musée du Louvre in Paris holds the largest collection of artefacts from the Serapeum outside Egypt, including around 120 Apis shabtis. They reveal that the this fragment with its sun-disc is from a rare variant of this shabti type; just 5 of the Louvre examples have sun-discs (S 1823, N 5234 51-54), the remaining shabtis have a bull’s head with short stubby horns and no sun-disc. -
Egyptian Blue Faience Plaque Fragment
Ptolemaic Period, 332-30 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £33
A fragment of a glazed composition frieze with corner-angle frame and head wearing a tripartite wig, possibly from a divine triad group; set within a kiosk with supporting papyrus columns. 4.68 grams, 31 mm
From a UK private collection, 1975-1978. -
Egyptian Blue Faience Djed Pillar Amulet
Late Period, 664-332 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £494
A glazed composition amuletic pendant of the djed pillar with fine detailing; loop to the reverse. 2.75 grams, 34 mm
Ex Roger Liechti collection, Geneva, Switzerland.
