Wood figure of a man, Egyptian, New Kingdom, 18th Dynasty
circa 1550 - 1307 BC

Wood

Height: 20.5 cm

Price: £35,000 plus any applicable taxes

The figure is in the form of young man standing with his arms held at his side. He is shown wearing a long kilt with a flaring overfold in front and a short wig with radiating striations. The eyes and the upper lids are well modelled, the proper left slightly higher than the right. There are some traces of pigment remaining, especially for the eyes; the feet are missing.

Provenance
Joseph Lindon Smith (1863 - 1950), New Hampshire, USA, acquired before 1950 Lindon Smith was an American painter, best known for his extraordinarily faithful and lively representations of antiquities, especially Egyptian tomb reliefs Christie’s, New York, 18 December 1996, lot 59

Literature
The types of funerary equipment that the ancient Egyptians put into their tombs had become standardised long before the New Kingdom. Based on the wealth and status of the deceased, provisions for burial included a container for the mummified remains, food offerings, protective figures and objects, servant statues (shabtis), furniture, tools, weapons, and clothing. In addition to being emblems of status and for symbolic use in the afterlife, some also were meant to aid in resurrection and to offer protection. Small wooden statuettes were often placed in tombs, in close proximity to the mummy and the statuette acted as an alternative resting place for the spirit of the deceased in the event of damage to the physical body.

For a similar example see Vandier, Manuel d’Archeologie egyptienne. III. Les Grandes Epoques. La Statuaire, pl. CXXXVIII, 4.
 

Large black-glazed nestoris, Greek, South Italy, mid- 4th century BC

Pottery

Height: 48.9 cm

Price: £30,000 plus any applicable taxes

Ovoid in form, with characteristic vertical handles rising from the shoulders to the rim and decorated with rotelles, with additional horizontal handles at the belly. 

A wine vessel of an unusual form and rare in black glaze. The workshops of the potters and painters of southern Italy produced vases for a Greek clientele established in coastal colonies such as Taranto and Metaponte, as well as for the indigenous population. While most shapes in South Italian vase-painting have their origins in Attic models, the nestoris is indigenous. 

Provenance

American private collection, New York, acquired circa 1995 – 1996 Christie’s, New York, 6 December 2001, lot 483

American private collection, 2001 – 2019