AN EGYPTIAN BRONZE LION-HEADED GODDESS

LATE PERIOD, CIRCA 7TH-6TH CENTURY B.C.

Details

AN EGYPTIAN BRONZE LION-HEADED GODDESS
LATE PERIOD, CIRCA 7TH-6TH CENTURY B.C.
Seated on a throne, wearing tightly fitted ankle-length tunic, wide collar, armlets, and striated tripartite wig with uraeus above her forehead, with incised mane and whiskers, remains of gilding on her eyes, with her right fist clenched and resting on her lap, left hand cupped underneath her breasts, back of the throne with incised Horus falcon wearing double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt, surrounded by papyrus thicket, a neb-basket beneath, papyrus flowers below, the sides of the throne with striated line borders; together with a bronze figure of a kneeling shaven-headed male offrant holding a laden flaring jar
9 in. (23 cm.) high

Provenance

Soraya Esfandiary Bakhtiary, Paris, prior to 1976.
Succession de Son Altesse Impériale la Princesse Soraya Esfandiary Bakhtiary (1932-2001); Beaussant Lefèvre, Drouot-Montaigne, Paris, 29-31 May 2002, lot 826.
Private collection, Switzerland.

If you wish to view the condition report of this lot, please sign in to your account.

View condition report

Lot Essay

Lion-headed goddesses represented cupping their breasts are rare in ancient Egypt. In the above example, the maternal gesture, together with the crowned falcon in the papyrus marshes incised on the back of the throne, indicates a reference to the mythical birth of Horus, hidden from Seth in Chemmis in the Delta. Rather than the warrior Sekhmet, this example could therefore represent the pacified Bastet.

More from Antiquities

View All