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Lot 40*

An Egyptian sandstone relief of a goddess

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

Sold for £6,875 inc. premium

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An Egyptian sandstone relief of a goddess
Ptolemaic Period, circa 332-30 B.C.
Carved in raised relief with the goddess in profile to the right, wearing a vulture headdress supporting a modius with cow's horns and sun disc, a column of hieroglyphs to the left reading '[the mistress of all of the gods], the one who is in the midst of[...]', 39cm wide

Footnotes

Provenance:
Ernst Kofler (1899-1989) and Marthe Truniger (1918-99) collection, Lucerne.
Anonymous sale; Christie's, New York, 18 December 1996, lot 57.
Private collection, New York, acquired at the above sale.

The vulture headdress appears to have originated with the goddess of Upper Egypt, Nekhbet. It was later used by other goddesses and, no earlier than the 5th Dynasty, by the queens of Egypt, to highlight the role of goddesses as royal mothers (see A.K. Capel & G.E. Markoe (eds.), Mistress of the House, Mistress of Heaven. Women in Ancient Egypt, Cincinnati, 1996, p. 114). The present lot probably represents either Hathor or Isis.

Additional information

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