Egyptian Calcite Alabaster Canopic Jar w/ Baboon Lid

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Exceptional Day 1: Antiquities & Asian Art

By Artemis Gallery

Sep 26, 2019

Set Reminder 2019-09-26 10:00:00 2019-09-26 10:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : Exceptional Day 1: Antiquities & Asian Art https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/artemis-gallery/exceptional-day-1-antiquities-asian-art-4437
Day 1 of an important 2-day auction featuring exceptional, museum-worthy examples of Egyptian, Greek, Etruscan, Roman, Viking, Russian, Near Eastern, as well as Asian Art from China, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, Burma and India. Artemis Gallery info@artemisgallery.com

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• Lot Description
  Egypt, Late Dynastic Period, 26th to 31st Dynasty, ca. 664 to 332 BCE. A handsome canopic jar, hand-carved from honey-yellow calcite alabaster with natural veins that illuminate when held next to a bright light. The cylindrical vessel has a flat base, an inverted piriform body with a slightly swelled shoulder, a flat upper rim, and a deep interior cavity meant to contain and protect the mummy's internal organs. The jar lid has a squat lower tenon and is sculpted to emulate the head of a baboon with recessed, discoid eyes beneath furrowed brow ridge, a lobed mane surrounding the face, a crested nasal ridge, and a tapered snout. The exterior of both body and lid has an incredibly smooth texture that creates a pleasing tactile feel. Size: 5.375" W x 13" H (13.7 cm x 33 cm); 14.1" H (35.8 cm) on included custom stand.
  
  Canopic jars are some of the most iconic artifacts from Egypt, made to hold internal organs removed during the mummification process. This tradition lasted for an incredibly long time - the first evidence for a canopic chest containing organs comes from the Fourth Dynasty (ca. 2600 BCE) and they were used into the late 1st millennium BCE. The 18th Dynasty marked a shift in canopic jar tradition, when these jars were given to all people of status, and when their heads were fashioned to look like the four Sons of Horus, including Hapi. The Four Sons were charged with protecting the internal organs, as they had originally been charged with protecting the body of Osiris. The baboon-headed son who represented the north, Hapi, was charged with protecting the lungs of the deceased and was protected by the goddess Nephthys.
  
  A stylistically similar example, of a slightly taller size and with an frontal inscription, hammered for $21,250 at Sotheby's, New York "Antiquities" auction (June 8, 2011, lot 94): https://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2011/antiquities-n08762/lot.94.html
  
  Provenance: private J.H. collection, Beaverton, Oregon, USA
  
  All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back.
  
  A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids.
  
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  #149687

  Condition

  Losses to areas of baboon snout on lid as shown. Minor chips to base and upper rim of body as well as lower tenon and head of lid, with light encrustations, and softening to some finer details on lid. Nice earthen deposits and smooth patina throughout.
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