A steatite figure of an Apis bull

PTOLEMAIC/ROMAN PERIOD, CIRCA 3RD-1ST CENTURY B.C.

Details

A steatite figure of an Apis bull
Ptolemaic/Roman Period, circa 3rd-1st Century B.C.
Wearing disc between its horns, 2¼in. (5.7cm.) long; a silver alloy figure of Horus the falcon, wearing a double crown; a cat's head; a bronze eagle; six bronze Osiris figures; seven other bronze figures of gods, a priest, animals and a buckle, 3in. (7.6cm.) high max.; and an Egyptian veined limestone model of a frog, crouching with hollowed-out eyes, hollowed-out base and pierced above the mouth, probably Hellenistic, circa 3rd-1st Century B.C. rather than earlier, 2½in. (6.3cm.) high(a lot)

Lot Essay

Last item: in Egypt the frog was associated with Hekat, the goddess of childbirth. In Greek times there were cave or fountain deities associated with the goddess Latona who, when the local peasants prevented her from drinking at their pond, turned them all into frogs.

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