Culture: Egypt. Date: 664 - 525 BC. Origin: Egyptian. Material: Green glazed faience. Provenance: NYC private collection. Condition: Intact, beak  More »

Culture: Egypt. Date: 664 - 525 BC. Origin: Egyptian. Material: Green glazed faience. Provenance: NYC private collection. Condition: Intact, beak restored. Measurments: 1.9 inches high, (5 cms). Striding forward with let foot advancing, wearing a short striated kilt.   « Less

Wearing black and yellow striped headcloth. Ex collection of Prof. Alcibiades N. Oikonomides (d.1988), Chicago (Classics professor at Loyola University), acquired in the  More »

Wearing black and yellow striped headcloth. Ex collection of Prof. Alcibiades N. Oikonomides (d.1988), Chicago (Classics professor at Loyola University), acquired in the 1970s; M.B. collection, Westlake Village, California. Late Ptolemaic Period, 1st Century BC H. 13 3/4 in. (34.9 cm.)   « Less

Culture; Egyptian. Date: 525 - 30 B.C. Material: Wood. Condition: Intact, with original polychromy. Provenance: Ex: English collection; Ex: Royal  More »

Culture; Egyptian. Date: 525 - 30 B.C. Material: Wood. Condition: Intact, with original polychromy. Provenance: Ex: English collection; Ex: Royal Athena. Wearing a collar composed of multiple blue lotus petals, a counterpoise suspended from the back and large loop pendant at the front; on integral rectangular base.   « Less

Date: 2nd Intermediate Period, 1750 - 1570 BC. Origin: Egypt. Provenance: Private collection. Material: Steatite. Measurement: 13 mm. Stock #: Eg030.

Date: 2nd Intermediate Period, 1750 - 1570 BC. Origin: Egypt. Provenance: Private collection. Material: Steatite. Measurement: 13 mm. Stock #: Eg030.   « Less

Origin: Sinai, Egypt Circa: 600 BC to 300 BC Dimensions: 3.5" (8.9cm) high x 5.375" (13.7cm) wide Catalogue: V1 Collection: Egyptian Antiquities Style: Late Dynastic  More »

Origin: Sinai, Egypt Circa: 600 BC to 300 BC Dimensions: 3.5" (8.9cm) high x 5.375" (13.7cm) wide Catalogue: V1 Collection: Egyptian Antiquities Style: Late Dynastic Period Medium: Bronze This thick-snouted fish with a long dorsal fin, pairs of ventral fins front and back, and a bipartite tail is a member of the Mormyrus genus, more commonly termed the Oxyrhynchus fish in Egyptological literature. The more common name of this fish is that of the village of Oxyrhynchus situated in the Egyptian Faiyum, the agriculturally-rich region to the southwest of modern Cairo. Hollow cast in bronze with the eyes originally inlaid, the fish rests on a rectangular base. The fish wears as an attribute the horns of a cow fronted by a sun disc.The ancient Egyptian traditions which grew up around the Oxyrhynchus fish are varied and complex. The best known, preserved by Plutarch, a Greek priest of the oracle of Apollo at Delphi writing in the second century A.D., in chapter 72 of his monumental opus De Iside recounts how the citizens of Oxyrhynchus engaged in a bloody confrontation with the citizens of neighboring Kynopolis because the citizens of Kynopolis ate the Oxyrhynchus fish. That account in Plutarch differs from the two ancient Egyptian accounts of this fish, both of which are associated with the god Osiris. As one recalls, Osiris and his brother, Seth, became embroiled in a conflict for power with the result that Seth triumphed over Osiris. In so doing, he dismembered the body of Osiris and scattered it far and wide. Isis, the dutiful wife and, incidentally, sister of Osiris, gathered up the pieces and reassembled them, but not before the Oxyrhynchus fish ate his phallus. The phallus was necessary for the posthumous conception of Osiris’s son and heir, Horus. In another version of the myth, the Oxyrhynchus fish emerged from the wounds of Osiris himself. Whatever the truth in these matters might be, the Oxyrhynchus fish was inextricably associated with the god Osiris and revered by the ancient Egyptians. That reverence explains why this fish wears as attributes the sun disc and cow horns, associating it with Isis in her role as the reviver of her husband Osiris.Such objects were frequently dedicated in sanctuaries by pious pilgrims as ex-votos to accompany their prayers. The rectangular base on which this example rests may have originally held the mummified remains of all or part of an Oxyrhynchus fish in order to imbue the object with more efficacious powers.Douglas J.Brewster and Renée F. Friedman, Fish and Fishing in Ancient Egypt (Cairo 1989), pages 51-52, for a zoological discussion of this fish.Wolfgang Helck and Eberhard Otto, Kleines Lexikon der Ägyptologie [edited by Rosemarie Drenkhahn] (Wiesbaden 1999), page 216, for a succinct account of this fish and the village with which it was anciently associated.Ian Shaw and Paul Nicholson, British Museum Dictionary of Ancient Egypt (London 1995), pages 100-101, for a discussion of fish in general and the Oxyrhynchus fish in particular.- (FZ.166)   « Less

Origin: Egypt Circa: 600 AD to 800 AD Dimensions: 14.125" (35.9cm) high x 2" (5.1cm) wide Catalogue: V1 Collection: Egyptian Style: Coptic Medium: Textile Additional  More »

Origin: Egypt Circa: 600 AD to 800 AD Dimensions: 14.125" (35.9cm) high x 2" (5.1cm) wide Catalogue: V1 Collection: Egyptian Style: Coptic Medium: Textile Additional Information: Found in Fayoum, Egypt As the Classical age drew to a close, the flowering of Christian Egypt produced a remarkable textile art. This tunic decoration, called a clavus, depicts motifs that are both pagan and Christian, a mixing of imagery not uncommon in Late Antiquity. A saint, apostle or evangelist, his head surrounded with a nimbus, shares space with flying spirits and wild beasts. Such a colorful masterpiece of the weaver's art seems to sum up the vitality, the vivid excitement of the age that created it. - (P.4488)   « Less

Origin: Egypt Circa: 600 AD to 800 AD Dimensions: 11.75" (29.8cm) high x 2" (5.1cm) wide Catalogue: V1 Collection: Egyptian Style: Coptic Medium: Textile Additional  More »

Origin: Egypt Circa: 600 AD to 800 AD Dimensions: 11.75" (29.8cm) high x 2" (5.1cm) wide Catalogue: V1 Collection: Egyptian Style: Coptic Medium: Textile Additional Information: Found in Fayoum, Egypt As the Classical age drew to a close, the flowering of Christian Egypt produced a remarkable textile art. This tunic decoration, called a clavus, depicts motifs that are both pagan and Christian, a mixing of imagery not uncommon in Late Antiquity. A saint, apostle or evangelist, his head surrounded with a nimbus, shares space with flying spirits and wild beasts. Such a colorful masterpiece of the weaver's art seems to sum up the vitality, the vivid excitement of the age that created it. - (P.4489)   « Less

Origin: Fayoum, Egypt Circa: 100 AD to 200 AD Dimensions: 9" (22.9cm) high x 5.875" (14.9cm) wide Catalogue: V4 Collection: Egyptian Style: Roman Period Medium: Painted  More »

Origin: Fayoum, Egypt Circa: 100 AD to 200 AD Dimensions: 9" (22.9cm) high x 5.875" (14.9cm) wide Catalogue: V4 Collection: Egyptian Style: Roman Period Medium: Painted Plaster A continuation of the Ancient Egyptian tradition of depicting the deceased in funerary art, this splendid mask displays a vivid and realistic approach to portraiture that reflects the influence of Hellenistic and Roman art. Looking upon the serene, slightly smiling face of this pretty woman who lived when Egypt was the richest province of the Roman Empire, we feel as if we know her well. We understand her desire to be remembered long after her life on earth had ended, to preserve for all eternity the unfading image of herself. In this objective, she has certainly succeeded, for in the presence of this lovely mask we cannot help but think about the ancient person for whom this is the only remaining clue. - (PF.0033)   « Less

Origin: Sinai, Egypt Circa: 4000 BC to 3000 BC Dimensions: 2.25" (5.7cm) high x 2.25" (5.7cm) wide Catalogue: V1 Collection: Egyptian Style: Predynastic Medium:  More »

Origin: Sinai, Egypt Circa: 4000 BC to 3000 BC Dimensions: 2.25" (5.7cm) high x 2.25" (5.7cm) wide Catalogue: V1 Collection: Egyptian Style: Predynastic Medium: Stone The vessel is characterized by a body which resembles a container made from the skin of an animal. Such vessels are commonly depicted in Egyptian tomb paintings of the later Ramesside Period where they appear to be made of the skins of goats. The lip is off-set from the body which is provided with two handles. The walls of the vessel are characteristically thin, contributing to its delicate translucency which attests to the skill of the ancient Egyptian craftsmen in creating such wafer-thin, stone objects.The shape of the vessel relates it to other imitation animal-skin sack-like vessels, one example of which is in London, The British Museum. This example is dated to the late Predynastic to early Archaic Period roughly between 3200-2800 BC. As such it conforms to the large number of experimental shapes which characterize the repertoire of stone vases at the dawn of Egypt’s history.It is interesting to note that the ancient Egyptians were crafting stone vessels long before they were creating statues in stone. This observation is reinforced by the fact that the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic word for “stone sculptor” employs the tool used by these early craftsmen for the fashioning of stone vessels as its ideogram.Such vessels are usually found in tombs, but their purpose is to assure the permanence of the ka, or spirit, of the deceased eternally in the Hereafter because such permanence is linked to stone, one of the most enduring of materials used by the ancient Egyptians. It is for this reason that pyramid chambers of pharaohs of the period contain so many examples of stone vessels. The excavations of the Step Pyramid of Pharaoh Djoser at Saqqara yielded almost 40,000 stone objects, most of which were vessels.In addition to insuring permanence, such vessels held precious unguents and ointments for which the ancient Egyptians were famous. Many of these cosmetics resonate with contemporary concerns addressed by aromatherapy. As such vessels of this type continually commemorate the ancient Egyptian achievements in all fields of human endeavor.Norman de Garis Davies, Two Ramesside Tombs at Thebes (New York 1927), pl. XXX, for the second register of the north side of the east wall of the Theban Tomb of Ipy (217) which depicts an agricultural scene, one vignette of which depicts a young girl loading fish into such a vessel; pl. XXXIV illustrates a detail of the same scene depicting several similarly-shaped skins in scenes of shepherds.- (PF.0076)   « Less

Origin: Fayoum, Egypt Circa: 100 AD to 200 AD Dimensions: 8.625" (21.9cm) high x 6.25" (15.9cm) wide Catalogue: V4 Collection: Roman Style: Egypto-Roman Medium: Plaster  More »

Origin: Fayoum, Egypt Circa: 100 AD to 200 AD Dimensions: 8.625" (21.9cm) high x 6.25" (15.9cm) wide Catalogue: V4 Collection: Roman Style: Egypto-Roman Medium: Plaster And Paint Since earliest times in Egypt, there was a tradition for funerary portraiture, for an effigy that preserved a likeness of the deceased. In the later periods, the influence of Greek and Roman art infused a new element of realism into the mummy portrait, as this splendid plaster image demonstrates. When we look upon the visage of a man who lived centuries ago, we cannot help but think how familiar he looks. - (PF.0086)   « Less