AN EGYPTIAN AGATE LOCUST AMULET, LATE PERIOD TO PTOLEMAIC PERIOD, CIRCA 664-30 B.C.

拍品描述

AN EGYPTIAN AGATE LOCUST AMULET, LATE PERIOD TO PTOLEMAIC PERIOD, CIRCA 664-30 B.C. Carved in the round from a warm orange-red agate with subtle banding visible through the polished surface, the amulet takes the form of a locust or grasshopper shown in profile. The elongated body tapers from a rounded head at the upper terminal to a slightly swelling abdomen at the base, with the folded wing case rendered as a broad panel of finely incised parallel striations running the length of the insect. Beneath the wing, the folded hind leg is carved in low relief, its angled joint and tapering tibia clearly articulated against the smooth flank. The head is set off from the thorax by a short vertical step, and the base is finished with a small collar or foot, likely intended to sit against the string when the amulet was worn as part of a necklace. The stone retains a high polish, with the natural translucency of the agate catching the light through the wing panel. The locust or grasshopper (Egyptian snḥm) appears in Egyptian material culture from the Old Kingdom onward, and gained particular currency as an amuletic form from the Late Period. The insect is attested in tomb painting, in hieroglyphic writing, and occasionally as a divine attribute; in the Book of the Dead, the deceased hopes to rise and fly forth as a locust or grasshopper, and the creature is associated with resurrection, transformation, and the passage between states of being. Worn in life or placed on the body of the deceased, an amulet of this form drew on the analogy between the insect's metamorphosis and the hoped-for transformation of the wearer. The choice of agate is significant. Hard stones of the chalcedony family, including carnelian, sard, and banded agate, were valued in Egyptian amuletic production for their deep warm tones, which carried solar and regenerative associations, and for their durability, which suited the amulet's protective function to endure across the wearer's life and beyond. Working such stones required skilled lapidary technique, with drilling, abrasion, and polishing carried out with harder mineral abrasives; the fine parallel incisions of the wing case here demonstrate the level of control achieved by Late Period workshops. Agate locust amulets are less common than the more familiar scarab, fly, or frog forms, and their production is concentrated in the later phases of pharaonic and early Ptolemaic Egypt. This amulet exemplifies the Late Period taste for hard-stone insect amulets carved with lapidary precision, in which the natural colour and translucency of the material reinforces the regenerative meaning of the form. The locust, a less common subject than the scarab within the amuletic repertoire, connects the wearer to one of the more evocative promises of the funerary texts: the ability to rise and take flight. Dimensions: Length: 6cm

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