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Lot 2

An Egyptian greywacke cosmetic palette

28 November 2017, 10:30 GMT
London, New Bond Street

Sold for £15,000 inc. premium

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An Egyptian greywacke cosmetic palette
Predynastic Period, Naqada II, circa 3500-3200 B.C.
In the form of a Barbary sheep, with long neck and short backward-curving horns, long muzzle and drilled eye on each side, the short legs and tail indicated, 13cm long

Footnotes

Provenance:
Roland Hartlaub collection, Iphofen.
Spezialauktion Sammlung ägyptischer Kunst u.a.; Auktionshaus Weidler, conducted in-situ at the collector's private museum, Iphofen, 20 July 2005, lot 3 (part lot).
Private collection, Germany, acquired at the above sale.

Cosmetic palettes in geometric and animal shapes were used by both men and women to prepare makeup. Surface wear and pigment remains are found on many palettes and demonstrate that they were objects of frequent use in daily life, as well as being buried in tombs in a ritualistic context. Palettes in the form of Barbary sheep, a species of caprid native to North Africa similar to a goat or antelope, are extremely rare. See W.M.F. Petrie, Prehistoric Egypt: Corpus of Prehistoric Pottery and Palettes, London, 1920, pl. LII, 2 for the form.

Additional information

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