LATE PERIOD TO PTOLEMAIC PERIOD, 664-30 B.C.

Details

AN EGYPTIAN CARNELIAN AND FAIENCE BEAD NECKLACE
LATE PERIOD TO PTOLEMAIC PERIOD, 664-30 B.C.
18 ¼ in. (46.3 cm.) long

Provenance

Goddard DuBois (1869-1925) and Josephine Cook Dubois (1864-1961), New York, acquired in Egypt between 1900-1907; thence by descent.
Silver and Gold, Antiquities, Jewelry, Art, Toys, Midnight Sun Antique Auction, Long Beach, CA, 15 July 2017, lot 26.

Literature

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Fiftieth Anniversary Exhibition, New York, 1920, p. 3 (unillustrated).

Exhibited

New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Fiftieth Anniversary Exhibition, 1920 (on loan until 1935, loan no. 2151.20).
San Diego, Museum of Man, Jewels of Egypt, 1968 (Loan no. 153.54).

Brought to you by

Hannah Fox Solomon Head of Department, Specialist

hsolomon@christies.com +1 212 636 2256

Lot Essay

This necklace is especially impressive for the number and quality of amulets in blackened faience that are interspersed with carnelian barrel-shaped beads. Included are seven djed pillars of various sizes, representing the hieroglyph for “stability” as well as the conceptual backbone of Osiris. Two mummiform figures of the creator god Ptah of Memphis flank either side, while three standing figures of the falcon-headed god Horus or Re-Harakhty are arranged around a single striding figure of jackal-headed Anubis. Groups of small amulets like these were placed within the bandages of mummies, and it is likely that the darkened color of the (originally blue-green) faience amulets is due to resins or bitumen poured over the wrappings.

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