RING COLLECTION JÜRGEN ABELER, WUPPERTAL Born in Wuppertal in 1933 into a family of watchmakers and goldsmiths, Jurgen Abeler (1933-2010) continued the family tradition but was also an avid collector, even from a young age. Initially collecting cigarette cards, stamps, beermats and minerals, in 1958 this would be extended to watches with the opening of the Wuppertal Watch Museum. This private museum was located in the family's jewellers and watchmakers and inspired by the family profession, but its content was not confined to precise boundaries, clearly demonstrating Jurgen Abeler's curatorial passion and his eclectic tastes. In addition to watches, the museum included crowns and insignia, menus, wine labels and, of course, rings, with over 40,000 objects in total. Jurgen Abeler's interest in rings stemmed from a Christmas present from his grandmother in 1955: Heinz Battke's recent book on the history of rings, Geschichte des Ringes in Beschreibung und Bildern. Battke, an artist, was an enthusiastic connoisseur of rings. Inspired by the author, Jurgen Abeler went on to shape his own collection from myriad sources and locations - auctions, antique shops, private hands and foreign lands. He later even acquired Battke's own collection. The result was an encyclopedic ensemble ranging from Roman and Egyptian examples to 21st Century pieces. He was motivated by a desire, in his own words, to create "a coherent, comprehensive overview about the whole topic up to (the) modern day." These rings were exhibited at the Deutsches Goldschmiedehaus Hanau from the 9th June to 21st September 2011 under the title, Sammlung Abeler, Wuppertal , Geschichte und Symbolik des Ringes aus vier Jahrtausenden - Vom Siegelring zum Liebesring.

AN EGYPTIAN BRONZE AND STEATITE TABLOID RING

NEW KINGDOM, REIGN OF TUTHMOSIS IV, CIRCA 1397-1388 B.C.

Details

AN EGYPTIAN BRONZE AND STEATITE TABLOID RING
NEW KINGDOM, REIGN OF TUTHMOSIS IV, CIRCA 1397-1388 B.C.
One side with the Pharaoh as a sphinx trampling the enemy, the cartouche reading, 'Menkheperure', the prenomen of Tuthmosis IV, the other side with seated Pharaoh holding crook and bow, hieroglyphs reading, 'the Perfect God' and 'Lord of the Two Lands', with a bronze hoop
1 in. (2.5 cm.) wide; ring size M

Provenance

Private collection, Germany; acquired 1960-1981, and thence by descent to the present owner.

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Lot Essay

PUBLISHED:
W. Decker, 'Ein ring mit dem namen Thutmosis IV', Chronique d'Egypt, XLIV, no. 88, 1969, pp. 195-99.

For a similar ring with Tuthmosis III depicted as a sphinx trampling the enemy cf. C. Andrews, Ancient Egyptian Jewellery, The British Museum, London, 1990, p. 164, no. 146a.

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