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Lot 5

An Egyptian alabaster trussed duck

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

£15,000 - £25,000

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An Egyptian alabaster trussed duck
Old Kingdom, 6th Dynasty, circa 2300-2181 B.C.
The bird depicted prepared for consumption, with the neck curving onto the body and the head resting on the breast, the wings folded neatly on either side, the recessed eyes with added modern red beads, 12.6cm long

Footnotes

Provenance:
Private collection, France, acquired before 1970.
French art market.
Anonymous sale; Bonhams, 29 April 2009, lot 58.

Miniature models of food, including dressed birds, meat pieces and bread, were part of a tomb's accoutrements as magical substitutes for the real food offerings. A small group of similar trussed alabaster ducks found in the necropolis of Dara is now in the Louvre, Paris, acc. nos. E17239 and E25189-E25192. This type of representation continued through to the Middle Kingdom; for a small bottle from this period carved as a trussed duck with more naturalistic details than the Old Kingdom antecedents, see the Louvre, acc. no. E11175 bis.

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Bid now on these items

An Anatolian marble idol
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