Wednesday 7 March 2012

More Egyptian antiquities

The owner of my "Cabinet de curiosités" spent a lot of time in Egypt, buried in the darkest shops of
Old Cairo. Guess what he has found this time behind a dirty curtain in the rear room of a perfumes shop.


I believe that they sell real antiquities coming from unauthorised excavations in the Memphite necropolis. The 1 inch scale necropolis of course ! Or perhaps it is a good forgery.


The paintings are still so fresh that they seems to be brand new [and for good reason...].


It's a canopic jars chest placed under the protection of the "4 sons of Horus" Hapi, Imsety, Duamutef and Qebehsenuef. They are anoint by the 4 funerary goddesses : Isis, Nephtys, Neith and Serket.



Qebehsenuef, the hawk, protects the intestines of the dead placed in the canopic jar, and is protected by Serket the goddess, making a libation over his head.


Imsety, the human, protects the liver and is protected by Isis



Duamutef, the jackal, protects the stomach and is protected by Neith


Hapi, the baboon, protects the lungs and is protected by Nephtys

Next time, I'll show you the inside. I didn't have the time to make the canopy jars yet.



Thursday 1 March 2012

An Egyptian king's jewels



The collector from the "Cabinet de curiosités" came back from Egypt with a new piece for his collection. He bought a large necklace, a Wseh collar in a small dark shop, hidden in the old soukh of Luxor, a town in front of the Valley of the Kings. Obviously this collar was made for a king. Its beads are precious stones : lapis lazuli, turquoise, cornelian, all well preserved, and the same goes for the golden frame. The collar is fastened with two Horus falcon heads. The seller says it was found in a remote tomb of the Valley of the Kings.



It is now displaid with the two Egyptian cats and the ibis. This is the beginning of a great Egyptian collection. Don't forget that my "Cabinet de curiosités" was established well before 1922, the year the tomb of Tutankhamun was discovered by Howard Carter and Lord Carnavon. Perhaps they've found ideas there....