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Hand-cut granite pieces for sale

16/02/2024

16/02/2024

Shu supporting Nut on heaven.
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*drawing

16/02/2024

16/02/2024

A gilded wooden ibis coffin representing the deity Thoth and containing the mummy of an ibis. It is dated to the Ptolemaic Period (304-30 BCE).

Most coffins of this type have bronze heads, necks and legs. But scientific testing suggests that the silver fittings we see here are likely modern replacements for the original bronze fittings.

Thoth was the god of wisdom and knowledge, of the scribal profession, and of the moon. He was represented in the form of an ibis or depicted as a baboon with a headdress bearing a lunar disc and a crescent. He was also often manifested as a man with the head of an ibis, frequently recording important proceedings, such as at the 'weighing of the heart' that judged the dead and that is usually illustrated in the 'Book of the Dead'.

"In Egyptian art, the fact that [deities] are so often made up of human and [/or] animal parts... does not indicate that ancient Egyptians imagined their gods looked like this. These were artistic conventions for showing what could scarcely be imagined, taking elements from the natural world to help picture the ungraspable enormity of the divine."

― Riggs, Christina, Egypt: Lost Civilizations, Reaktion Books Ltd, London, UK, 2017.

This piece (49.48a-b), which is 55.9 centimeters in length, is now in the Brooklyn Museum, New York, USA.

Photo (edited for size): Brooklyn Museum

16/02/2024

A bronze figurine of the deity Hapi, shown with a clump of papyrus upon his head and carrying an offering table. It dates to the Late Period (circa 712-332 BCE).

"The ancient Egyptians were acutely aware of the Nile's importance and embedded its presence deep in their culture. The river's annual floods created the three seasons of their calendar: Akhet, or inundation, Peret, or growing, and Shemu, or drought. The floodwaters themselves were deified in the form of Hapi: an androgynous god depicted with a full belly and swollen breasts to signify the abundance he brought to the world.

It was the inscrutable will of Hapi that offered the best explanation for the Nile's largesse, and it was thought he released its waters each year from hidden caverns in the mountains. As the floods cascaded down into Egypt, Hapi's spirit would flow across the land, trailed by a frolicking retinue of frogs and crocodiles. The enormous wealth created each year by the Arrival of Hapi nurtured a civilisation that has lasted for millennia. Even today, the Nile is indispensable to Egypt, providing 95 per cent of the country's water needs."

— Vincent, James, Beyond Measure: The Hidden History of Measurement, Faber & Faber Limited, London, England, 2022.

This piece (E 4874), which is 12.3 centimeters in height, is now in the Musée du Louvre (Louvre Museum), Paris, France.

Photo (edited for size): Musée du Louvre / Hervé Lewandowski (Click the photo for full view).

16/02/2024

An unfinished yellow-brown quartzite head of a princess, probably Meryetaten. She is the eldest of six daughters King Akhenaten (reigned circa 1353-1336 BCE during the 18th Dynasty) fathered with his Queen Nefertiti.

The sculpture, part of a composite statue, was excavated in 1912 in the workshop of Thutmose, the Master of Works, in Akhetaten (modern day el-Amarna).

The artistic style of this work is in direct contrast to traditional Egyptian art and reflects the revolutionary character of the Amarna Period.

"... There seems no doubt that it is purely a mannerism of the new art style..."
― Aldred, Cyril, Akhenaten and Nefertiti, The Brooklyn Museum in association with The Viking Press, Inc., New York, USA, 1973.

This piece (JE 44869), which is 21 centimeters in height, is now in the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, Cairo, Egypt.

Photo: Bruce White

16/02/2024

A painted limestone statuette depicting three standing brothers. They are identified by the inscriptions on the base as Hesi (left), KhuPtah (middle) and NikauKhufu (right), who has used the cartouche of King Khufu as part of his name. All three men bear the modest title 'Palace Attendant of the Great House'. This piece was excavated in the mastaba tomb of Mesi, also a palace attendant, located in the Western Cemetery at Giza. The three men were most likely related to him. They all lived during the time of the 5th Dynasty (circa 2465-2323 BCE).

To eliminate monotony the sculptor has striven for variety by differentiating the hair styles of the three men. While Hesi wears a full, striated, shoulder-length wig, KhuPtah wears a short curly wig, and NikauKhufu has only closely cropped hair.

Another interesting aspect of this sculpture is that the brothers stand in a non-traditional way. Standing men were almost invariably depicted with the left leg forward while their weight resting on the rear, right leg. Here we see each of the three men standing with both feet together, a pose traditionally associated with women. A number of pair statues of husband and wife standing with their feet together exist, but there are also pair statues depicting both husband and wife with their left legs advanced.

Scholars agree that less-skilled Egyptian sculptors attempted innovations which their better-trained fellows instinctively avoided. They also agree that there was a class of 'folk art' available to those of low social status (like Mesi and the three brothers) beside the more formal and canonical statuary that was made for the privileged. The creations of these inexperienced artists met the tomb owners' needs, but did not necessarily adhere to all the sacrosanct rules of Egyptian art.

This sculpture (06.1882), which is 25 centimeters in height, is now in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, USA.

Photo (edited for size): The Museum of Fine Arts

16/02/2024

A painted limestone head of an Osiride statue of the female pharaoh Hatshepsut. She reigned circa 1479-1458 BCE during the 18th Dynasty. The sculpture belongs to a figure of her that stood in the northeast corner of the sanctuary of Amun within her mortuary temple at Deir el-Bahari.

"[Hatshepsut] remains, arguably, the only woman to have ever taken power as king in ancient Egypt during a time of prosperity and expansion—and thus many historians have interpreted her kingship as an ambitious and immoral power grab... Hatshepsut broke yet another rule: She acted as regent for a boy who was not her son. And then, to keep up her rule-breaking streak, she extended her power over Egypt for more than two decades: the longest tenure of any female leader of ancient Egypt."

— Cooney, Kara, When Women Ruled the World, National Geographic Partners, LLC, Washington, DC, USA, 2018.

This wonderful piece (31.3.153) is now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA.

Photo (edited for size): Public Domain