Egyptian Late Dynastic Jadeite Heart Scarab, ex-Mitry

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Exceptional Antiquities, Asian, Ethnographic

By Artemis Gallery

Jun 4, 2020

Set Reminder 2020-06-04 10:00:00 2020-06-04 10:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : Exceptional Antiquities, Asian, Ethnographic https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/artemis-gallery/exceptional-antiquities-asian-ethnographic-5185
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• Lot Description
  Egypt, Late Dynastic Period, 26th to 31st Dynasty, ca. 664 to 332 BCE. A gorgeous insectile amulet of a heart scarab that is hand-carved from mottled forest-green jadeite with brown and beige inclusions. The stocky beetle lays recumbent atop an integral ovoid plinth with sinuous legs retracted beneath its bulky wing carapace, and incised striations create frilled serrations on the face and legs as well as delineate the individual wings. While the underside of the amulet is uninscribed, traces of black pigment suggest an inscription or protective symbol was painted on prior to burial. The lack of a suspension hole also furthers the notion that this was meant as a highly symbolic funerary offering, perhaps from a widow for her deceased husband. A sizable example flaunting smooth surfaces and fine form. Size: 2.2" L x 1.625" W x 0.8" H (5.6 cm x 4.1 cm x 2 cm); 2.9" H (7.4 cm) on included custom stand.
  
  The ancient Egyptians believed that a person's heart contained the undeniable and absolute proof of how an individual's actions in life - whether benevolent, miserly, or otherwise - determined the type of afterlife they could experience. No one could claim to have lived a life entirely free of sin, though their noble beliefs and actions enabled them to tend the field of Osiris in the afterlife. Though full of challenging trials and tribulations, the final obstacle in one's journey through the afterlife was to be judged at the Court of Osiris in a ceremony known as the 'weighing of the heart.' In this ceremony, the heart of the deceased was removed by the Anubis, the jackal-headed god of the dead and the process of embalming, against a single feather of Ma'at (or feather of truth). If the weight of the heart was less than that of the feather, the gods of the Court would effectively decree that the deceased had lived a life worthy of the resplendence of Osiris' fields. If the heart weighed even a gram heavier than the feather, their heart was fed to Ammit (also Ammat), a horrifying chimeric beast with the head of a crocodile, the body of a leopard, and the latter half of a hippopotamus' body. An individual's worst fear during this ceremony was that their heart will speak out against them during the final judgement. In order combat this anxiety, the living spouses of the deceased would carve heart scarabs like this example and inscribe them with a specific protective incantation from Chapter 30B of the Egyptian Book of the Dead (or the Book of Going Forth by Day) to silence any final wickedness one's heart could muster and ensure their entrance into the Fields of Osiris in the afterlife.
  
  For a strikingly similar example with a base inscription, please see The Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession number 10.130.1650
  
  Another stylistically similar example, of a smaller size and carved from serpentine, hammered for $13,750 at Christie's, New York "Antiquities" auction (sale 3798, December 9, 2015, lot 184).
  
  Provenance: ex-Phillip Mitry collection, noted antiquities dealer in Cairo, Egypt before emigrating to the United States in 1951
  
  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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  #153954

  Condition

  Minor nicks and abrasions to top, peripheries, and base, with fading to incised details, and fading to most original pigment, otherwise intact and excellent. Light earthen deposits and smooth surface texture throughout. Faint but visible remains of original black pigment on underside.
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