CIRCA 4TH-2ND CENTURY B.C.

Details

A LARGE EGYPTIAN CEDAR WOOD CULT STATUE OF OSIRIS
CIRCA 4TH-2ND CENTURY B.C.
With sensitively modelled face, the eyes recessed for inlay, the atef-crown with attached bronze uraeus and twin feathers, each inlaid with red and blue glass(?) paste, the ears of the god large and finely detailed, his beard curled at the end, the mummified figure with arms crossed holding a flail and crook, the symbols of his divine kingship, with wood feet and tang below, faint traces of gesso, repaired at feet, mounted
30½ in. (77.5 cm.) high

Provenance

Madame B collection, acquired from Eid & Son, Cairo, early 1950s.

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium, which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

For similar, cf. 'L'Osiris de la crypte' in the Louvre Museum, Paris (N3506) from the Clot-Bey collection (acquired 1852). Osiris, one of the children of the Earth god Geb, and the Sky goddess Nut, was the god of death and rebirth, as witnessed in the annual sowing and harvesting of the corn; he was the lord of judgement of the dead. His principal cult centres were at Abydos in Upper Egypt and Busiris in the Delta, which attracted large numbers of pilgrims hoping to share in his immortality.

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