Lot 45
45
TWO HALVES OF THE HEAD OF A DAIMON, finely detailled, with pointed ears and eyebrows, opaque yellow face, opaque red on the mouth, nose, eyes and ears, translucent cobalt blue edges to the mouth, nose and ears, with translucent emerald green leaves above and between the translucent cobalt blue brows and eyeline, transculent pink pupils, with translucent cobalt blue and opaque white snake scales below the face, in translucent cobalt blue matrix, cut in the lower part of a cartouche design.

Details
TWO HALVES OF THE HEAD OF A DAIMON, finely detailled, with pointed ears and eyebrows, opaque yellow face, opaque red on the mouth, nose, eyes and ears, translucent cobalt blue edges to the mouth, nose and ears, with translucent emerald green leaves above and between the translucent cobalt blue brows and eyeline, transculent pink pupils, with translucent cobalt blue and opaque white snake scales below the face, in translucent cobalt blue matrix, cut in the lower part of a cartouche design.
circa 1st Century B.C. 3.2cm. high, 1.5cm wide, 0.2cm. thick each (2)

Lot Essay

This unique head might represent the Agathos Daimon, the tutelary deity of Alexandria, who was also identified with Serapis, the male counterpart of Isis-Thermouthis (who in turn was a graecisized form of the early snake harvest goddess Renenutet). In a statue of Isis-Thermouthis in Alexandria museum (no. 25773, ex-collection King Farouk I), reproduced in Götten und Pharaonen, no. 151, the snake goddess is shown carrying the cornucopia, the 'horn of plenty'. The representation of the daimon showns 'green vegetation' above the eyes and satyr's ears, as well as distinct uraeus nose and scales beneath. It has also been cut in a way to suggest that it wore a headdress or cown above

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