Egyptian-style glazed amulet of the Horus Falcon, circa early 20th century | Given by Hughes to Plath

Egyptian-style glazed amulet of the Horus Falcon, circa early 20th century

Blue glaze, 23mm height

"My hawk, as would occur to anybody who had any interest in the symbols that made the West, is Horus." (Ted Hughes, letter to Derwent May, 10 April 1992)

Ted Hughes gave this figurine to Sylvia Plath on their honeymoon. It was probably purchased during their days in Paris at the end of June 1956. Given the importance of the hawk to Hughes's poetry of the 1950s through such poems as 'The Hawk in the Rain' (which was written around this time), it was a gift loaded with great symbolic meaning. The image of Horus continued to inspire Hughes's work in later life; for example, as part of the complex web of mythology behind Cave Birds.