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LOT 0723
Romano-Egyptian Stone Crocodile Figure
LATE PERIOD, 664-332 B.C.
2 5/8 in. (3 5/8 in.) (40.79 grams, 68 mm wide (116 grams total, 93 mmm wide including stand)).
Carved in high relief with a flat underside, reptilian body with finely rendered scales, and a small human head, mounted on a custom-made wooden stand.
ProvenancePrivate collection.
with Mallams, Oxford, Library Sale, 2025.
Acquired by the current owner from the above.
Cf. Andrews, C., and van Dijk, J.Objects for Eternity: Egyptian Antiquities from the W. Arnold Meijer Collection, Mainz am Rhein, 2006, p. 72, no. 2.01, for an example of the type.
FootnotesThe earliest representation of a human-headed crocodile appears in a vignette from Spell 88 of the Book of the Dead dating to the reign of Ramesses II (13th century B.C.), and identifies the deceased as Sobek. Stylistically, this example appears to be from the Late Period, when amulets representing Sobek-Osiris or Sobek-Re are known.
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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 0723
Romano-Egyptian Stone Crocodile Figure
Estimate £400 - 600€460 - 700 (for guidance only)$540 - 810 (for guidance only)
Opening Bid
£200 (EUR 232; USD 270) +BP*
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Egyptian Papyrus Fragments in Display Stand
Demotic, 300 B.C.-300 A.D.Estimate: £50 - 70 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £5
Irregular papyrus fragments with traces of Demotic and Greek script; mounted in a protective acrylic display. 80 grams total, 16 cm including stand
with a privately curated collection, 1980s-early 2000s. From the private collection and estate of Christine Simons (1943-2025), West Midlands, UK. -
Egyptian Bright Blue Glazed Faience Shabti of Wennefer
New Kingdom, circa 1292-1069 B.C.Estimate: £600 - 800 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £5
Upper half of a mummiform figure (feet missing), with a black-painted tripartite wig, crossed arms subtly modelled in relief, and hands holding hoes rendered in black; two globular water pots (?) on the back, with a bold black line beneath; a hieroglyphic text on the lower body, reading: 'The Osiris Wennefer'; mounted on a display stand. 61 grams total, 11 cm including stand
Acquired from the Egyptian Exploration Society, 30th June 1965, for 2 shillings and sixpence. From the private collection of Peter Clayton, FCILIP, Dip, Arch, FSA, FRNS, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, UK; formed since the late 1950s. Accompanied by an old handwritten information card by Peter Clayton, collection no.118.
Wennefer, a common name, particularly in the New Kingdom and the Third Intermediate Period, which loosely translates as 'the perfect being', was also an epithet of Osiris. -
Egyptian Terracotta Funerary Cone of Montuemhat
Late Period, 25th-26th Dynasty, circa 700-650 B.C.Estimate: £300 - 400 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £5
The front part of a large tapering funerary cone, with the circular flat end impressed with four horizontal lines of hieroglyphic text, reading: "Fourth prophet of Amun, mayor of the city Montuemhat, true of voice, son of the prophet of Amun, scribe of the offering-table in the house of Amun, mayor of the city Nesptah, true of voice". 380 grams, 86 mm wide
Acquired from Abdoul Rassoul on the West Bank at Luxor, 1974-1980 when a guest lecturer. From the private collection of Peter Clayton, FCILIP, Dip, Arch, FSA, FRNS, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, UK; formed since the late 1950s.
Montuemhat, Mayor of Thebes and Governor of Upper Egypt, was possibly the most powerful official in southern Egypt of his era. He built one of the largest and most lavishly decorated non-royal tombs known (TT34), which still dominates the Asasif landscape today.
