THIRD INTERMEDIATE PERIOD, 20TH DYNASTY, 1196-1070 B.C.

Details

AN EGYPTIAN BLUE FAIENCE BES
THIRD INTERMEDIATE PERIOD, 20TH DYNASTY, 1196-1070 B.C.
Turquoise blue in color with black details, modeled in relief on all sides, the dwarf god standing on a papyrus umbel, crowned in a tall five-plumed headdress, holding an infant in his bent left arm, a simian below in between his legs, a pair of simians flanking his thighs and another pair flanking his ears, the back of the headdress with a bound oryx, with four perforations at the top and two below the crown for attachment
8 7/16 in. (21.4 cm.) high

Provenance

Omar Pacha Sultan, Cairo.
Antiquities, Sotheby's, London, 14 July 1981, lot 102.
Art Market, Paris, 26 June 1996.
with Galerie Orient-Occident, Paris, 21 September 1992.

Literature

Collection de feu Omar Pacha Sultan Le Caire, Paris, 1929, no. 219, pl. XXXIII.
J. Bulté, Talismans Egyptiens d'heureuse maternité, Paris, 1991, cover and document 11, pp. 19-20.
F.D. Friedman, Gifts of the Nile: Ancient Egyptian Faience, New York, 1998, no. 75, pp. 109, 210.
R. H. Wilkinson, The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt, London, 2003, p. 103.

Exhibited

Cleveland Museum of Art, 1998; Providence, Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, 1998-1999; Fort Worth, The Kimbell Art Museum, 1999; Gifts of the Nile: Ancient Egyptian Faience, 1998-1999.

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

View condition report

Lot Essay

As R.S. Bianchi explains (p. 210 in Friedman, op. cit) this Bes plaque would have been fitted into a papyriform scepter, similar to the attachment of a mirror plate and its handle. Most likely additional attachments were secured to the feathers at the perforations. Bianchi calls this object a prophylactic charm and discusses Bes' identity and function to combat the anxiety of the changing conditions from one state to another. He points to changes from the Old to the New Year, the birth of a child, and the annual flooding of the Nile. "In ancient Egyptian thinking, these transitions could be aborted by the presence of malevolent forces of chaos, but these forces in turn were thought to be checked by the powers of Bes, each of which was positively reinforced by his various attributes."

More from Antiquities

View All