Appliqué of the Horus Son Imsety
Price: on request
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Object number
AR2685
| Object: |
Amulet of Imsety
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| Material: |
Turquoise fayence.
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| Period: |
Late Period of Ancient Egypt.
26th to 31st dynasty,
664 BC to 332 BC.
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| Description: |
Beautiful turquoise fayence appliqué of the Horus Son Imsety. The concave surface shows a relief of the god standing to the right. The rear side is flat. The amulet has holes to stich it to the mummy bandage or to be included in a net of beads placed over the mummy's breast.
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| Background: |
In ancient Egyptian mythology, the god Horus had four sons with Isis - Imsety, Duamutef, Hapi and Qebehsenuef. They are best known as the protectors of the organs taken from the mummy. Every lover of Egyptian art knows the so-called canopic jars. These are sets of four vessels whose lids are decorated with the heads of the Horus children. Since the Third Intermediate Period, however, the organs have no longer been placed in canopic jars, but have been prepared and embalmed and returned to the body of the deceased. In place of the canopic lids, the Horus children now appeared in the form of appliqués, such as this one. The appliqués were usually placed on the mummy together with a winged scarab, so that the amulets of the four children lay out in pairs and the heads looked at each other. The appliqués were provided with holes through which they were sewn to the mummy bandage or woven in a support of beads. The Imsety figure offered here had certainly this function. Together with its siblings it protected and accompanied the deceased. The protective god Imsety was responsible for the liver. |
| Dimensions: |
45mm length, 14mm width, 7mm depth
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| Condition: |
Outstanding condition. Fully intact with wonderful turquoise surface. Inscription with white ink on the rear side reading "25.569".
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| Provenance: |
2019 acquired by us from the German private collection D. R. Acquired by him in 2017 or 2018 from the Hixenbaugh Gallery New York, USA. Acquired by the latter from Harlan J. Berk in 2017, catalogue "The Toledo Sale", lot no. 18. Previously in the inventory of the Toledo Museum of Arts (inventory no. 1925.569). It came in the museum collection in 1925 from a donation by Florence Scott Libbey. Mrs. Libbey received the piece from the estate of her husband Edward Drummond Libbey, the founder of the Toledo Museum, who died shortly before the donation. Acquired by Edward Drummond Libbey in 1924 in Cairo, Egypt, from the famous antiquities dealer Ralph Harrup Blanchard (1875-1936).
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| References: |
Cf. C. Andrews, Amulets, p. 46, no. 50a.
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| Literature: |
C. Andrews, Amulets of ancient Egypt, p. 45f.
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| Authenticity: |
We unconditionally guarantee the authenticity of every artefact, all items are subject to our lifetime return policy on authenticity.
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