An Egyptian Bronze Figure of a Royal Sphinx , Ptolemaic Period, 305-30 B.C., or earlier

from the top of a standard, probably from a royal barque, with taut and slender leonine body, the god wearing a long striated frontlet, wavy beard with engraved cheek-straps, striated tripartite wig with uraeus, and headdress composed or ram's horns surmounted by ostrich feathers, sun-disk, and uraei, his finely-modeled face with long aquiline nose.

Jack Josephson, New York, acquired in the early 1970s (Sotheby's, New York, December 2nd, 1988, no. 127, illus.)

"The Face of Egypt: Permanence and Change in Egyptian Art," the Katonah Gallery, Katonah, New York, March 13th-May 15th, 1977, and the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, June 14th-August 28th, 1977
"Divine, Domestic, and Desert Animals in Ancient Egyptian Art," Hurlbutt Gallery, Greenwich Library, Greenwich, Connecticut, January 4th-March 4th, 1979, cat. no. 26, illus.
The Brooklyn Museum, 1977-1985

William Kelly Simpson, The Face of Egypt: Permanence and Change in Egyptian Art, Katonah, 1977, no. 54, illus.
Hurlbutt Gallery, Greenwich Library, Divine, Domestic, and Desert Animals in Ancient Egyptian Art, Greenwich, Connecticut, 1979, cat. no. 26, illus.

Note damage to crown, uraeus, and missing tail. There is some corrosion on the lower hind legs.Otherwise very good and details are very clear.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Cf. R. Fazzini, Images for Eternity: Egyptian Art from Berkeley and Brooklyn, Brooklyn, p. 92., no. 78 (R. Fazzini, in Gifts for the Gods Images from Egyptian Temples, M. Hill. ed., New York, pp. 106-107). On standing sphinxes as accoutrements for processional barques see A. Cabrol, Les voies processionnelles de Thèbes, Leuven, 2001, p. 368, and the relevant section in Chr. Karlshausen, L'iconographie de la barque processionnelle divine en egypte au Nouvel Empire, Leuven, 2009. Barque shinxes are often erroneously identified as the god Tutu, although they appear to have served as one of the sources for his iconography (see O.E. Kaper, The Egyptian God Tutu: A Study of the Sphinx God and Master of Demons with a Corpus of Monuments, Leuven 2003, p. 197, note. 42, and p. 381).