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LOT 0025
Romano-Egyptian Terracotta Figure of Baubo
PTOLEMAIC PERIOD, 2ND-1ST CENTURY B.C.
6 1/4 in. (375 grams, 15.8 cm).
The squatting figure depicted nude, a garland upon her propoloma and thick braids falling on her shoulders, her legs bent and spread wide, her right hand touching her genitals and the left hand raised holding a lotus flower.
Provenancewith Superior Galleries, Los Angeles, USA.
Ex Dr W. Benson Harer, Los Angeles, USA, March 1985.
This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.
Exhibited in the Robert & Frances Fullerton Museum or Art (RAFFMA), California State University from 1998-2023 (Reference No. EL01.098.1998)
LiteratureCf. Nagwa Abdelnaby, A.I., ‘Two unpublished Figurines of Women Purifying themselves in the Greco-Roman Museum of Alexandria’ in Bulletin of the Center Payrological, 38 (1), November 2021, pp.645-664, figs.3, lett. A and D.
FootnotesBaubo was a minor divinity of the Greek mythology, linked to the cult of Demeter and Persephone. The statuette belongs to the second type of Baubo figurines, widespread in the last Ptolemaic and Roman period in Egypt. The Egyptian Baubo figures are split into two groups, and this one belongs to the first group depicting a woman seating frontally whilst holding a musical instrument. In some of these figurines her right hand is touching her genitalia. Many of them were used as amulets or as ex-voto.
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LOT 0025
Romano-Egyptian Terracotta Figure of Baubo
Estimate £700 - 900€810 - 1,040 (for guidance only)$950 - 1,220 (for guidance only)
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Egyptian Carnelian Fly Amulet
Late Period, 664-332 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £182
Carved with simple body and eye detailing and polished; drilled through the eyes for suspension. 0.41 grams, 13 mm
From an early 20th century collection. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.
Small fly amulets first appeared in burials during the Naqada II Period, c. 3200 B.C. These amulets grew in popularity and the materials used to make them expanded during the New Kingdom. They are crafted from a variety of materials such as gold, silver, lapis lazuli, carnelian, amethyst, faience, and bone. These amulets were thought to protect against insect bites and to ward off troublesome flying creatures through apotropaic magic. Some believe they may have even been intended to symbolise the fly’s fecundity. Additionally, pharaohs would bestow gold fly-shaped pendants as military awards to honour the bravery and fly-like persistence of soldiers in battle. -
Faience Juglet
Parthian, 1st-2nd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £85
With barrel-shaped body. trumpet-shaped neck flanked by strap handles to the shoulder, horizontal ribbing. 106 grams, 10 cm
Acquired 1980-2015. Ex Abelita family collection. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato. -
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Egyptian Limestone Relief with the Figure of the God Hapi
Late-Ptolemaic Period, circa 664-30 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £3,640
A relief depicting the upper half of the Nile divinity facing right, sporting a slender beard with curved end, wearing a tripartite wig surmounted by a floral crown in the form of a clump of papyrus with bent buds, and an elaborate multi-strand beaded broad collar; the pendulous breast characteristic of this type of figure; with both upper arms angled right towards traces of a libation vase and possible stem of a lotus flower; traces of a vertical register line behind the figure’s head; mounted on a custom-made display stand. 10.85 kg total, 38.5 cm high including stand
From the estate of the late designer Anthony Powell (1935-2021). This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.12497-230640. This lot has been cleared against the Art Loss Register database, and is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.
Representations of fecundity figures can be traced from the Old Kingdom through to the Roman Period. These figures serve as divine embodiments of Egypt’s fertile productivity and are commonly depicted in series on the lower registers of temple walls, symbolising the fertility of each province. Historically, they have often been mistakenly referred to as the ‘Nile God’; however, the term Hapi, which sometimes identifies these figures, actually refers to the inundation rather than the River Nile itself, highlighting the source of Egypt’s fertility.
