Ancient Sculpture and Works of Art Part I
Ancient Sculpture and Works of Art Part I
Property from a Belgian Private Collection
A Fragmentary Egyptian Granite Figure of Tuthmosis III, 18th Dynasty, reign of Tuthmosis III, 1479-1426 B.C.
Auction Closed
December 6, 03:36 PM GMT
Estimate
18,000 - 22,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
Property from a Belgian Private Collection
A Fragmentary Egyptian Granite Figure of Tuthmosis III
18th Dynasty, reign of Tuthmosis III, 1479-1426 B.C.
the king enthroned with his finely carved feet resting on the Nine Bows, signifying Egypt’s enemies, the column of inscription on the front left reading “King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Men-kheper-ra, Beloved of Amun-Ra, for eternity”, the column on the front right “Son of Ra, Tuthmose Nefer-kheper-ra, Beloved of Amun-Ra, given life”, the symbol (sema-tawy ) for the Uniting of the Two Lands of Upper and Lower Egypt, including the entwined lotus and papyrus, carved on each side of the throne.
Height 35 cm.
private collection, Switzerland
Gallery Babylon Limited, Zurich
Galerie Cybèle, Paris, acquired from the above in December 1999
Glenn James, United Kingdom, acquired from the above ca. 2000
consigned by the above to Galerie Cybèle, Paris
acquired from the above at the Basel Ancient Art Fair in November 2011
Published
Topographical Bibliography of ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic Texts, Statues, Reliefs and Paintings, vol. VIII, Parts 1 and 2: Objects of Provenance not Known: Statues, no. 800-618-850 (http://www.griffith.ox.ac.uk/gri/3pm8sta1.pdf)
The name of Amun-Ra has been mostly hammered away, probably during the reign of Akhenaten.
Three fragments from another black granite seated statue of Tuthmosis III are in Cairo, CG 1096 (L. Borchardt, Statuen und Statuetten von Königen und Privatleuten, part 4, 1934, p. 55). They comprise part of the base, including two of the nine bows, the left side of the seat, also engraved with the sema-tawy symbol within an ornamental border, and the upper right thigh with remains of a striated kilt with central tab and inscribed belt. Part of the inscription following the king's name appears to have been also intentionally erased.