1 More

GIOVANNI BATTISTA BELZONI (PADUA 1783-1870 GWATO); ALESSANDRO RICCI (SIENA 1795-1834 FLORENCE)

Head of Seti I in profile, wearing a wig and the sacred uraeus

Details

GIOVANNI BATTISTA BELZONI (PADUA 1783-1870 GWATO); ALESSANDRO RICCI (SIENA 1795-1834 FLORENCE)
Head of Seti I in profile, wearing a wig and the sacred uraeus
signed and dated 'Belzoni 26' (lower right with pencil) and 'Ricci' (lower right with pen and brown ink)
wall rubbing, watermark 'three crescent moon'
17 ¾ x 13 in. (45.2 x 33 cm.)

Provenance

Queen's booksellers-Maggs Bros, 50 Berkeley Sq., London.
Acquired by the present owner from an English collection of books and antiquities, 2008.

Literature

P. Clayton, 'Ancient Egypt', in M. Merrony (ed.), Mougins Museum of Classical Art, France, 2011, p. 37, fig. 8.
M. Merrony, Musée d'Art Classique de Mougins, La collection de la famille Levett, France, 2012, p. 19.
V. Bougault, 'L'Antiquité au gout du jour,' in Connaissance des arts, July/August 2012, p. 116.
J. H. Taylor, 'The Great Belzoni' in Minerva: The international review of ancient art & archaeology, November/December 2017, p. 19, fig. 11.

Exhibited

London, Piccadilly, Egyptian Hall, 1822.
Musée d'Art Classique de Mougins, 2011 - 2023 (Inv. no. MMoCA9MA).
London, Sir John Soane’s Museum, Egypt Uncovered: Belzoni and the Tomb of Pharaoh Seti I, 2017 - 2018.

Conditions of sale

Brought to you by

Claudio Corsi Specialist, Head of Department

ccorsi@christies.com +44 (0) 20 7389 2607

Lot Essay

The rubbing was taken by Giovanni Battista Belzoni with Alessandro Ricci in 1817-1820 after Belzoni's sensational discovery of a massive tomb in the Valley of the Kings belonging to pharaoh Seti I and was later used as part of the reconstruction of the tomb for an exhibition in the Egyptian Hall, Piccadilly, London in 1822.

More from Ancient to Modern Art from the Mougins Museum of Classical Art, Part I

View All