Limestone Relief “Sculptor’s Model” with Harpocrates and Isis

Culture: Egyptian

Period: Ptolemaic period, 332-30 B.C.

Material: Limestone

Dimensions: 10.8 cm x 7.6 cm

Price: Sold

Ref: 1331

Provenance: Private collection Baron William Tyssen Amherst of Hackney (1835-1909). Auctioned at Sotheby’s Sale „Collection Amherst“, London on 14. June 1921, lot 321. There acquired by Joseph Altounian (1890-1954). Since then in a family estate. Accompanied by an old inventory list of 1 January 1924 listing the object with number 1382, and a French antiquities passport.

Condition: Fragment of beautiful quality with a dark patina.

Description: Fragment in high relief worked out on both sides. One side depicts Harpocrates, the Hellenistic child god Horus, standing and facing to the right. The side-lock of youth falls on his shoulder. He wears a necklace with an amulet, possibly a scarab. Depicted on the other side, also in high relief, is a standing female goddess holding in her stretched out hand a Was sceptre. She can be interpreted as Isis, mother of Horus. On the narrow side is a label with the inscription “Amherst Trial piece Kom el Ahmar XVIII dyn.” A collection label with the number 290 is on the upper narrow side. Mounted.