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LOT 0028
Romano-Egyptian Limestone Funerary Niche
COPTIC PERIOD, 5TH-6TH CENTURY A.D.
19 1/4 in. (57.55 kg, 49 cm).
Carved architectural block fragment comprising: a shallow niche with arched top and parallel sides, with concentric mouldings to create a reveal and ledge below to accept offerings; horizontal tiered base; attachment sockets for two figurines (absent) flanking the niche; to left, a column modelled in the half-round with two parallel vertical stems, shallow roundel to the base and stylised foliage at the top; pediment above with scooped profile; above each figurine an incised initial, 'A' and 'M'; facing surface keyed for plaster finish.
ProvenanceFrom the estate and private collection of Matthew Upham (1962-2025), an antiques trader from Budleigh Salterton, Devon, UK.
Acquired at an estate sale at auction.
Property of a Cambridgeshire, UK, gentleman.
Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D'Amato.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no. 13297-255939.
Cf. Crum, M.W.E., Catalogue général des antiquités égyptiennes du Musée du Caire, nos.8001-8741; Coptic Monuments, Le Caire, 1902, pls.II (8414); VII (8434), XLIX-LII, LIII, LIV (complete with the image of ‘orans’) for similar monuments; Atalla, N.S., Coptic Art, Sculptures, Architecture, L'Art Copte, II, Cairo, 1989, figs. pp.35, 45, for similar carvings; Wamser, L., Die Welt von Byzanz - Europas Östliches Erbe, München, 2004, items 870-872, for similar niches.
FootnotesIn the Christian Roman Empire, the stelae in the form of aedicula, which could be funerary monuments with crosses or the images of the deceased, or devotional niches with images of saints, appear to be independent sculptures. These stelae consisted of a rectangular body surmounted by a circular arch or trapezoidal structure. At the centre of the niche, the deceased was often depicted full-length, in a praying position (orans). Devotional stelae were also placed inside a church or shrine, with images of the Virgin and Child, or saints.
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LOT 0028
Romano-Egyptian Limestone Funerary Niche
Estimate £2,000 - 3,000€2,320 - 3,480 (for guidance only)$2,700 - 4,050 (for guidance only)
Opening Bid
£1,000 (EUR 1,160; USD 1,350) +BP*
-
Egyptian Bronze Seated Cat Statuette
Late Period, 664-332 B.C.Estimate: £800 - 1,000 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £444
Bastet in squatting pose, ears pricked and alert with her tail wrapped close to right side of her body, two short lugs beneath for attachment to a separate base, and a suspension loop behind the shoulders. 74 grams, 87 mm
Acquired on the UK art market, 1990s. Private collection, New York, USA. -
Egyptian Alabaster and Glass Eye Pair
Late-Ptolemaic Period, 664-30 B.C.Estimate: £800 - 1,000 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £400
The sclera white alabaster stone and the iris black glass. 15.33 grams, 31mm
From a North American gentleman's collection, 1990s.
Egyptian coffin eye inlays were both decorative and symbolic, intended to make the coffin appear lifelike and assist the deceased in the afterlife. Typically, they featured a white sclera (glass, travertine, alabaster or quartz), a dark iris (glass or often obsidian), and sometimes red paint at the inner corner. The eyes were often set in bronze or copper frames, occasionally with faience or bronze eyebrows. -
Egyptian Gold Bead Amulet
Late New Kingdom-Third Intermediate Period, circa 1069-900 B.C.Estimate: £150 - 200 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £75
Formed as a poppy seed with flaring terminals. 0.91 grams, 9 mm
Ex French art market, 1920s.