Figure of Anubis from the famous Matouk collection
Price: on request
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Object number
AR2499-01
| Object: |
Figure of Anubis on base plate
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| Material: |
Solid-cast bronze.
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| Period: |
Late Period of Ancient Egypt. 26th to 31st dynasty, 664 BC to 332 BC. |
| Description: |
Egyptian standing figure of the god Anubis on a base plate. The god has a human body and a canine head. He is wearing the shendyt-kilt and a collar. There is a loop in the neck and a pin below the base plate. The figure was made by casting solid bronze.
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| Background: |
Statuettes of the canine headed Anubis are rare to find in public and private collections. The god is mainly depicted in his role as god of death. In this function he takes care of embalming and mummifying and other services for the dead. There are also well-known scenes from the Book of the Dead in which he is the Guardian of the Scales in the weighing of the heart test procedure.
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| Dimensions: |
81mm height (without ancient pin and modern stand), 22mm width, 40mm depth (without loop).
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| Condition: |
Very good condition. The left ear is broken and reattached. Small chips at the base and the left hand. The surface was probably slightly cleaned at some point in the past and has re-patinated over the decades. Nice play of colours with the remaining patina of the Millenia. Mounted on a modern acrylic base. Old sticker "2589" attached to it.
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| Provenance: |
Acquired by us in a German auction house in 2018. Consigned by the heir of a German private collection. Acquired for the collection in May 1980 from the stock of the "Aegyptiaca" society in Switzerland. Selected and brokered by Hermann Schlögl (Freiburg i. Br.). The Aegyptiaca society sold this object from the famous Matouk collection which was in storage at the archaeological collection of Zürich university. It was brought there in 1976, exported from Lebanon, with no Lebanese laws prohibiting the export. Fouad S. Matouk formed his collection between 1925 and 1976. It was located in Egypt until 1960 and in Lebanon afterwards. About the famous Matouk collection: The collection of Fouad Sélim Matouk (1902-1978) included 8520 ancient Egyptian seals, amulets and bronzes, as well as some pieces dating to Greco-Roman and Coptic times. The collection held 6800 scarabs, the third biggest amount worldwide after the Egyptian Museum in Cairo and the British Museum in London. Being Christian Arabs Matouk's parents with his son fled their country of birth Syria and settled in Egypt at the beginning of the 20th century. It was there young Matouk started to build his collection in the mid 1920ies. A prominent part was acquired by him in 1956 in Cairo. It came from the also famous collection of the antiquities dealer Ralph Harrup Blanchard (1875-1936). As a whole the Matouk collection was based on a scientific point of view concerning the typological evolution of form and decoration. In the year 1960 the collector and trader had to leave Egypt under Nassar's rule and flea to Lebanon. After the Lebanese civil war started Matouk brought his collection to safety in Switzerland in 1976. That is how it could be protected from the chaos of the war, except for the ancient glasses which fell prey to the war. Shortly afterwards financial pressure made Matouk decide to sell his collection. He wanted the archaeological institute of Zürich university to have it. But after his unexpected death in 1978 in Beirut his son Tawfik Fouad Matouk had to continue this endeveaor. Zürich university could not pay the full price. The resulting idea was the foundation of the "Aegyptiaca" society with the financial aid of the Swiss Federation. The society should sell part of the Matouk collection to private collectors until the revenue was enough to buy the remaining part of the collection for Zürich University. Before that the objects were properly researched by the renowned archeologists Prof. Dr. Eric Hornung, Prof. Dr. Othmar Keel, Dr. Leo Mildenberg, Dr. Hermann Schlögl and Dr. Michael Sguaitamatti. In the end the largest part of the objects were added to the stock of Fribourg University. There, Othmar Keel worked with the pieces, in his function as a Professor for Old Testament and Biblical Environment. From the part sold to collectors initially a significant amount of objects could be acquired by Alte Roemer Gallery in 2018 and 2019. We are extremely happy to be able to work with those important pieces ourselves. The younger history including names like Matouk and Blanchard is proudly standing up to the Old Egyptian history of those little works of art. |
| References: |
Cf. Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien, Egyptian Collection, INV 4176. Cf. British Museum, museum no. EA64540, regitration no. 1946,1204.64. Cf. Christie's New York, Sale 16723, 2018 May 10th, lot no. 903. Similar Petrie, Amulets, plate XXXVI, no. 197d. |
| Literature: |
Literature in respect to the Matouk collection: F. S. Matouk, Corpus du scarabée égyptien, Vol. I: Les scarabées royaux (Beyrouth, 1971). The catalogue includes 904 objects of the collection. F. S. Matouk, Corpus du scarabée égyptien. Vol. II: Analyse thématique (Beyrouth, 1971). The catalogue includes 2480 objects of the collection. O. Keel und C. Uehlinger, Altorientalische Miniaturkunst. The only published work about pieces from the Blanchard collection: R. H. Blanchard, Handbook of Egyptian Gods and Mummy Amulets (1909). |
| Authenticity: |
We unconditionally guarantee the authenticity of every artefact, all items are subject to our lifetime return policy on authenticity.
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