Circa 6th - 1st Century BC
What we are offering today is a beautiful and rare ancient carved stone amulet depicting the benevolent Egyptian household deity, Taweret.
Taweret appears in Egyptian art in the form of a standing female hippopotamus with arms at her side.
Because female hippos are aggressive to protect their young, pregnant women wore amulets of Taweret to protect their pregnancies. She was, overall, the goddess who protected women during pregnancy and childbirth. In ancient Egypt, it was believed that if you wanted to live through childbirth, you prayed to Taweret.
The black and white mottled diorite stone (a type of granite used frequently in Egyptian royal art) is superb. Diorite is often used for larger sculpture and vessels but is much less rarely seen used for smaller objects owing to the difficulty of working such a hard stone at a smaller scale...making this a very rare and special amulet for a serious amulets collector. In addition, faience was typically used for amulets as they could be mass produced in large volumes. Stone objects required specialized skills and considerable time to carve and polish, thus is hand-crafted and unique.
Our example, while it is more difficult to discern in the photos though I attempted to photograph it against various colored backgrounds, has wonderfully articulated features including a striated wig, eyes and snout, arms and extended belly. Truly a miniature work of ancient Egyptian stone sculpture.
At the back is an integral attachment loop. A sturdy modern gold jewelers wire has been fashioned to allow the amulet to be safely worn as a pendant.
We sold this pendant to a very knowledgeable Egyptian antiquities collector circa 2004 then re-purchased it from his widow upon his passing some years later. We are offering here for the first time since then. Rare opportunity to pick up a quite scarce quality antiquity "from Christies" without the exhorbitant buyers premium and miscellaneous handling/shipping charges.
Provenance: This amulet was formerly in a private UK collection acquired at Christie's Fine Antiquities, London, 10 July 1991, lot #61.
Dimensions: 1.25 inches (3.2 cm) high
We are an international antiquities dealer with 40+ years of experience and have published more than 50 color catalogues over the years. Our client include dozens of museums worldwide, dealers and private collectors. We are selling select objects here on eBAY, offering a rare opportunity to acquire high-quality, guaranteed ancient objects with great provenance from an antiquities professional at a fraction of what you will pay at auction or from big city dealers.