Francesca Hickin
Head of Department
Lot 191
An Egyptian limestone figure of a Queen or goddess
Amended
28 November 2019, 10:30 GMT
London, New Bond StreetSold for £75,062.50 inc. premium
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Anna Marston
Senior Cataloguer
An Egyptian limestone figure of a Queen or goddess
Early Ptolemaic Period, circa late 4th-3rd Century B.C.
Preserved to the lower thigh, depicted striding forward on her left leg, her arms held by her sides, the fingers of her left hand extended, holding an ankh-sign in her right, wearing a sheath-like dress that reveals the voluptuous form of her body beneath and a smooth tripartite wig with frontal uraeus, now broken away, the long lappets falling onto her breasts, her face with almond-shaped eyes with extended cosmetic lines and brows and rounded chin, with back pillar, the text of which has been chipped away, 46cm high
Early Ptolemaic Period, circa late 4th-3rd Century B.C.
Preserved to the lower thigh, depicted striding forward on her left leg, her arms held by her sides, the fingers of her left hand extended, holding an ankh-sign in her right, wearing a sheath-like dress that reveals the voluptuous form of her body beneath and a smooth tripartite wig with frontal uraeus, now broken away, the long lappets falling onto her breasts, her face with almond-shaped eyes with extended cosmetic lines and brows and rounded chin, with back pillar, the text of which has been chipped away, 46cm high
Footnotes
Provenance:
with Galerie G. Maspero, Paris.
Private collection, France, acquired from the above 14 June 1974.
The present lot belongs to a group of statues of queens and goddesses dating to the early Ptolemaic Period which emerged as a result of the close cultural connections between Egypt and the wider Hellenistic world. Bernard v. Bothmer described such sculptures thus: 'though there is just the degree of naturalism in the modelling of the body to hint at the presence of the Greeks, the sculptor has expressed himself in a purely Egyptian manner, based on a long tradition' (Egyptian Sculpture of the Late Period, 700 B.C. to A.D. 100, New York, 1960, p. 120).
It is exceedingly difficult to ascertain whether a goddess, such as Isis, or a Ptolemaic queen is depicted here, as Ptolemaic royalty often presented themselves in the guise of the divine. The loss of the back pillar, which presumably provided a dedication text, further exacerbates this problem.
Saleroom notices
Please note that the provenance information for this lot should read: The Topstone Fund (A Charitable Foundation), New York; Sotheby Parke Bernet, New York, 5 November 1971, lot 82. with Galerie G. Maspero, Paris. Private collection, France, acquired from the above 14 June 1974.