Description:
A light blue Egyptian faience amulet in the shape of a trapezoidal plaque, modelled with a flat underside and pierced for attachment on the mummy wrappings.
Depicted in raised relief is the goddess Isis, kneeling on a rectangular plinth and facing right. She holds her right hand in front of her face in a gesture of mourning. On top of her head, with its tripartite wig, she wears the throne emblem.
Traditionally Isis and her sister Nephthys are depicted in a similar pose, sitting at the feet and head of the corpse of their brother Osiris. Usually they are also mentioned on the foot and head panels of rectangular coffins, and this is mirrored in the position of the two female mourners sitting at the deceased's feet and head during the burial proceedings. Isis, as the widow of the deceased who was identified with Osiris, would sit at the feet so that she could face him, while her sister Nephthys would wield protection over him from behind. However, although Isis is predominantly represented at the feet and Nephthys at the head, the positions of the two goddesses sometimes change.
For similar amulets see the Walter Art Museum, Baltimore, MD, inv.no. 48.1637: Anne Garside (ed.), Jewelry, Ancient to Modern (Modern Masters; Studio Book) (Baltimore, MD, Viking Press in cooperation with Walters Art Gallery, 1980); Richard H. Randall Jr., Objects of Adornment. Five Thousand Years of Jewelry from the Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore (New York, American Federation of Arts, 1984); Carol Andrews, Amulets of Ancient Egypt (London, British Museum Press, 1994), p. 48; fig. 66d (British Museum, inv.no. EA54924, which is rather worn, depicting Isis according to Andrews, but Nephthys according to the British Museum database).
Dating:
Late Period, ca. 664 - 332 B.C.
Size:
Height 4.1 cm.
Provenance:
US collection of John J. Slocum (1914-1997); thence Sands of Time Ancient Art, Washington, DC.
John Slocum collected most of his antiquities while serving as US cultural attache to Egypt in the 1960s. He later served as Assistant to the Director of The Smithsonian, was appointed to the Presidential Cultural Property Advisory Committee, and was a Trustee Emeritus of the Archaeological Institute of America.
Condition:
Intact and in excellent condition overall. With a custom made stand.
Price:
€ 1,800
Stock number:
E2107