Description:

Egypt, Late Dynastic Period, 26th to 31st Dynasty, ca. 664 to 332 BCE. A mold-formed faience amulet depicting a stylized heart-and-windpipe (known as "ib") covered in lustrous, turquoise-hued glaze. The egg-shaped amulet features a pair of petite fins protruding from the sides, a squared-off top portion surmounted by a pierced suspension loop, and a crescent-shaped hieroglyph incised on each side meant to symbolize rebirth. Size: 0.53" W x 0.79" H (1.3 cm x 2 cm); 1.25" H (3.2 cm) on included custom stand.

According to Carol Andrews, a curator in the Department of Egyptian Antiquities at the British Museum, "To the Egyptians the heart was the most essential of organs, not because it pumped blood around the body - it is unclear that they understood this function - but because they believed it was the seat of intelligence, the originator of all feelings and actions, and the storehouse of memory. This is why it was the heart which was weighed in the balance in the Underworld to ascertain whether its owner was worthy to enter the Egyptian paradise: only it retained the memory of its owner's deeds upon earth." (Andrews, Carol. "Amulets of Ancient Egypt." University of Texas Press, Austin, 1994, p. 72)

Provenance: private New York, New York, USA collection; ex-private Midwest, USA collection, acquired prior to 2007; ex-private UK collection

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#172105

  • Condition: Light abrasions, minor darkening to glaze in scattered areas, and softening to finer details and crescent hieroglyphs, otherwise intact and very good. Great preservation to overall form and nice glaze coloration throughout.

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January 12, 2023 8:00 AM MST
Louisville, CO, US

Artemis Fine Arts

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