AN EGYPTIAN LIMESTONE MOLD

PTOLEMAIC PERIOD TO ROMAN PERIOD, 304 B.C.-100 A.D.

Details

AN EGYPTIAN LIMESTONE MOLD
PTOLEMAIC PERIOD TO ROMAN PERIOD, 304 B.C.-100 A.D.
The thin rectangular block sculpted in sunk relief with a bird in profile to the left, the details of the feathers well incised
5 1/8 in. (13 cm.) wide

Provenance

Anthony J. Drexel, Jr. Collection, assembled in the late 19th century by Emil Brugsch of the Cairo Museum and the Egyptian Antiquities Organization.
Drexel Institute, Philadelphia, 1895.
Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 1916.
with Blumka Gallery, New York, 1975.

Literature

G.D. Scott, III, Exhibition catalogue, Temple, Tomb and Dwelling: Egyptian Antiquities from the Harer Family Trust Collection, San Bernardino, 1992, no. 15, pp. 30-31.

Exhibited

Los Angeles County Museum of Art, periodically 1986-1991.
San Bernardino, University Art Gallery, California State University and elsewhere, Temple, Tomb and Dwelling: Egyptian Antiquities from the Harer Family Trust Collection, 8 January-30 December 1992.

Lot Essay

According to Scott (op. cit., p. 30) this mold was probably intended for cold hammering a thin sheet of metal foil. The finished product would then have been affixed to a more complex work. However, it seems equally likely that this, like the so-called sculptor's models, may have served a votive function.

More from ANCIENT EGYPTIAN ART FROM THE HARER FAMILY TRUST COLLECTION

View All