Phoenician Steatite Multi-Bodied Astarte Amulet

Formed as a small rounded head with filet or diadem to the brow, pert facial features. 54 grams, 44 mm



Antoni Sikorski collection, London, formed between the 1950s and 1970s. with Chiswick Auctions, 11 May 2016, [Part]. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.

Although worn, the narrow diadem and curly hair are reminiscent of portraits of Ptolemaic priests, such as Pakhom of Dendera (Bothmer, B.V., Egyptian Sculpture of the Late Period 700 B.C. to A.D. 100, New York, 1960, pp. 178-179, pls. 128 and 129, 343); Spier, J., Potts, T., and Cole, S.E. (eds.), Beyond the Nile: Egypt and the classical world, Los Angeles, 2018, p. 169 no. 101.

Obverse with scarab carved in high-relief and wing-case recessed to accept inlays (now absent), flanked by a small female goddess wearing a tall headdress, almost certainly Nephthys, with her arms raised in supplication; column with text to her rear, covered in gold foil and perhaps to be read as 'May my name be victorious: protection..'; reverse with the upper body of a male figure facing right with both arms raised towards the remains of a recumbent Anubis on a plinth above the top of a fragmentary shield-shaped plaque with incised text beginning 'Osiris Lord of Eternity forever..'; mounted on a custom-made stand. 53 grams, 69 mm (157 grams total, 11.5 cm including stand)



Eric Pascoe (d. 2019), Calenick House, Truro, Cornwall. Lodge & Thomas, Truro, Antiques & Fine Art Two Day Auction-Including the Ron Clifford Collection of Dinky & Britain's Toys, 26-27 September 2019, no.684. Acquired by the present owner at the above sale. with Bonhams, London, 8 December 2022, no.265. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.

This fragment from an elaborate pectoral may exemplify an innovative design characteristic of the Ramesside Period, during which iconographic and textual elements began to diverge from the more conventional styles of earlier pectorals. For a discussion of some of these novel pectorals, refer to Whelan, P., 'An Epithet-Laden Pectoral,' Egitto e Vicino Oriente, 46 (2023), pp.7-28.

Narrow in profile with tapering body and flared foot, tubular neck with strap handle to rear. 97 grams, 94 mm



From North Africa, UK. Ian Wilkinson collection, Nottinghamshire, UK, formed since 1985. Accompanied by an old handwritten dealer's tag. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.