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LOT 0444
Very Large Egyptian Expedition Lithograph of the Hypogees Papyrus Manuscript from Thebes
EARLY 19TH CENTURY A.D.
43 1/4 x 26 3/8 in. (233 grams, 110 x 67 cm).
Proof etching on laid paper of plate 67 from Vol.II of Description de l'Égypte : ou, Recueil des observations et des recherches qui ont été faites en Égypte pendant l'expédition de l'armée française. entitled Thèbes. Hypogées. Manuscrit sur papyrus.
ProvenanceFrom the collection of a North American priest.
Acquired between 1981-1996.
Property of a North American collector.
Produced between February 1802 and 1830 on the orders of Napoleon Bonaparte; published between 1809 and 1828. Just 1,000 copies were distributed to various institutions, printed on laid paper with an 'Égypte ancienne et moderne' watermark. The book is subtitled Recueil des observations et des recherches qui ont été faites en Égypte pendant l’expédition de l’Armée française, publié par les ordres de Sa Majesté l’Empereur Napoléon le Grand (Gathering of observations and discoveries which were made in Egypt during the expedition of the French army, published on the orders of His Majesty the Emperor Napoleon the Great). It was the world's first encyclopedia devoted exclusively to the remains of ancient Egypt. The plates of this book are the first to present the archaeological sites of Thebes (Luxor). The papyrus manuscript was recovered from an underground tomb chamber (hypogeum). The vignette in this scene depicts the weighing of the deceased's heart on scales before Osiris's tribunal. If the heart (on the left) did not balance with Maat (on the right), it would be devoured by Ammut, the fearsome creature seated on a shrine before Osiris.
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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 0444
Very Large Egyptian Expedition Lithograph of the Hypogees Papyrus Manuscript from Thebes
Sold for (Inc. bp): £117
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Egyptian Yellow Faience Bastet Cat Amulet
New Kingdom, circa 1550-1070 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £715
Figure of Bastet as a cat with pointed ears, seated on a rectangular base with a rounded end; suspension loop on the back, ear repaired. 2.51 grams, 26 mm
Ex London gallery and Belinda Elliston, a member of the Egyptian Exploration Society, 1940s onwards.
In ancient Egypt, the cat was venerated as the sacred animal of the goddess Bastet, whose principal cult centre was Bubastis in the Nile Delta. Although cats were once part of folk practice, their veneration as part of formal cults spread across Egypt during the Late Period. Bastet was closely linked to lion-headed goddesses like Sekhmet, Tefnut, and Pakhet, and the cat itself became associated with solar imagery: the Book of the Dead portrays the sun god as a Great Cat vanquishing Apophis beneath the sacred Ished Tree. The cat could also embody the Eye of the Sun or, more often in Bastet’s case, the Eye of the Moon. Mummified cats were frequently dedicated as votive offerings, and some of their feline-shaped coffins were adorned with finely crafted bronze heads to enhance their divine likeness. -
Egyptian Clay Papyrus Document Clay Sealing
Roman Period, 30 B.C.-323 A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £26
Irregular in plan and wedge-shaped in section, impressed profile bust of a female. 1.18 grams, 17 mm
From the collection of a Buckinghamshire, UK, collector established from the earlier 1960s. -
Egyptian Faience Bead Necklace
Late-Ptolemaic Period, 664-30 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £46
Composed of vibrant blue tubular and annular beads, restrung. 8.9 grams, 96 cm
Ex Norri collection, Milton Keynes, UK, 1980s-1990s.
