NEW KINGDOM, 19TH-20TH DYNASTY, CIRCA 1292-1069 B.C.

Details

AN EGYPTIAN WHITE FAIENCE TILE WITH A REKHYT BIRD
NEW KINGDOM, 19TH-20TH DYNASTY, CIRCA 1292-1069 B.C.
3 5/8 X 4 in. (9.2 x 10.2 cm.)

Provenance

with J. J. Klejman, New York, 1968.
Property Sold for the Benefit of the Mozes S. Schupf Foundation Inc.; Antiquities, Sotheby's New York, 8 June 1994, lot 9.
UK private collection, acquired at the above sale.

Literature

Constant Companions. An Exhibition of Mythological Animals, Demons and Monsters, Phantasmal Creatures and Various Anatomical Assemblages, Houston, 1964, no. 3.

Exhibited

Houston, St. Thomas University, Constant Companions. An Exhibition of Mythological Animals, Demons and Monsters, Phantasmal Creatures and Various Anatomical Assemblages, 28 October 1964 - 7 February 1965.

Conditions of sale

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Lot Essay

The tile is moulded in relief and shows a Rekhyt bird seated on a neb sign with chequered detail. The bird is a lapwing with human hands raised in adoration and represents the population of Egypt - specifically the common people. With the neb sign (all) and the five-pointed star dwa sign (adore) the meaning becomes "all Egyptians (common folk) adore". The object of the adoration could either be a king or god depending on the context of where the tile was placed as decoration - a temple or a palace. A similar tile in Brooklyn (acc. no. 33.578) possibly comes from the Palace of Ramesses III at Tell el-Yahudiya in the Delta (cf. E. Riefstahl, Ancient Egyptian Glass and Glazes in the Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, 1968, no. 47) and another in the British Museum (EA12967). For further examples and more information on the rekhyt bird and similar architectural examples from a doorway in the palace of Ramesses III at Medinet Habu, see P. F. Houlihan, The Birds of Ancient Egypt, Oxford, 1986, pp. 93-96.

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