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LOT 0499
Romano-Egyptian Haematite Scarab with Gnostic Figure
3RD CENTURY A.D.
5/8 in. (6.52 grams, 17 mm).
With scene to underside of a winged figure advancing.
ProvenanceAcquired in the mid 1980s-1990s.
Private collection, Switzerland, thence by descent.
Private collection, since the late 1990s.
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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 0499
Romano-Egyptian Haematite Scarab with Gnostic Figure
Estimate £600 - 800€700 - 930 (for guidance only)$810 - 1,080 (for guidance only)
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Egyptian Steatite Heart Scarab
Late Period, 664-332 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £143
With ribbed carapace and suspension loop to underside. 2.89 grams, 22 mm
Acquired on the European art market in the early 2000s. with Galerie Rhéa, Zurich, Switzerland. -
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Egyptian Bronze Osiris Statuette
Late Period, 664-332 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £1,235
Standing figure in mummiform stance, wearing the conical Atef crown with flanking ostrich plumes and frontal uraeus, holding the crook (heka) and flail (nekhakha) regalia; mounted on a display stand. 185 grams total, 15.4 cm including stand
Property of a deceased gentleman's collection, 1980s. Ex John Nicholson Auction, Haslemere, Surrey, UK. -
Egyptian Faience Bastet Cat Amulet Collection
New Kingdom, 1550-1070 B.C. and laterEstimate: £1,200 - 1,700 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £600
Pale yellow, turquoise, and blue faience seated cat figures, each shown on a base plinth and with a suspension loop behind the head. 83 grams total, 47-52 mm including stands
Collection of a Lady, circa 1940. From a specialist collection.
In ancient Egypt, the cat was revered as the sacred animal of the goddess Bastet, whose main cult centre was Bubastis in the Nile Delta. Although cats were once part of folk customs, their formal worship expanded across Egypt during the Late Period. Bastet was closely connected to lion-headed goddesses such as Sekhmet, Tefnut, and Pakhet, and the cat itself became linked to solar imagery: the Book of the Dead depicts the sun god as a Great Cat defeating Apophis beneath the sacred Ished Tree. The cat could also represent the Eye of the Sun or, more commonly in Bastet’s case, the Eye of the Moon. Mummified cats were often offered as votive offerings, and some were decorated with finely crafted bronze heads to emphasise their divine likeness.
