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A set of four Egyptian limestone canopic jars image 1
A set of four Egyptian limestone canopic jars image 2
A set of four Egyptian limestone canopic jars image 3
A set of four Egyptian limestone canopic jars image 4
A set of four Egyptian limestone canopic jars image 5
A set of four Egyptian limestone canopic jars image 6
A set of four Egyptian limestone canopic jars image 7
A set of four Egyptian limestone canopic jars image 8
Property from a Private German Collection
Lot 13

A set of four Egyptian limestone canopic jars

Antiquities
1 December 2020, 11:00 GMT
London, New Bond Street

£80,000 - £120,000

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A set of four Egyptian limestone canopic jars
Middle Kingdom, 12th Dynasty, circa 1939-1760 B.C.
Each jar with a cylindrical body with rounded shoulders and flat base, the lids finely sculpted in human-headed form, with exaggerated large ears, each jar and face painted yellow, the wigs in blue, and the eyes with remains of black paint, each jar with four vertical lines of hieroglyphs containing the standard address to Nephthys, Isis, Neith and Selket to protect the relevant embalmed organs within, and identifying the deceased as a man named Keki, the interior of the vessels hollowed, 38cm high each max.

Footnotes

Provenance:
G. I Hanna collection, Montreal, 1980.
E. Mammi collection, Paris.
with Roswitha Eberwein GmbH, Göttingen.
Private collection, Germany, acquired from the above in 2013.

Canopic jars were used to store the internal organs removed from the body of the deceased during the process of mummification. From the 5th Dynasty onwards, the jars came in sets of four, each designated for one of the vital organs: liver, lungs, stomach, intestines. By the early Middle Kingdom, the jars were personified by giving them human-headed lids. From the 18th Dynasty onwards canopic jar lids were usually in the form of the Four Sons of Horus, Hapy, Imsety, Duamutef and Qebehsenuef, with each god being the protective deity of the contents of their respective jar.

Additional information

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