Ancient Egypt, New Kingdom, 18th to 20th Dynasty, ca. 1550 to 1070 BCE. A beautiful hand-carved limestone lid for a canopic jar used for storing and preserving the internal organs of a mummy. The lid consists of a discoid plug beneath the stylized head of Imsety, the human-headed son of Horus who is the guardian of the liver. His visage is comprised of fine almond-shaped eyes below thin brows and within thick cosmetic lines, broad nostrils, slender cheeks, thin lips, and a rounded chin, all surrounded by a tripartite wig. A well-detailed example of fine Egyptian lapidary artistry! Size: 3.4" L x 3" W x 3.3" H (8.6 cm x 7.6 cm x 8.4 cm)
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 Imsety. The Four Sons were charged with protecting the internal organs, as they had originally been charged with protecting the body of Osiris. Imsety protected the liver, was oriented with the south direction, and was himself protected by the goddess Isis.
Published in J. Eisenberg. "Art of the Ancient World," vol. XXVII (2016), no. 179.
Provenance: ex-Royal Athena Galleries, New York City, New York, USA; ex-Hotel Drouot, Paris, France, 2015; ex-Edward Roffey collection, England, circa 1960
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#179538
Condition
Minor nicks and abrasions commensurate with age, with some darkening to bottom of plug, otherwise intact and excellent. Wonderful surface smoothness and preservation to finer details. Previous inventory label beneath plug base.