AN EGYPTIAN BANDED ALABASTER ‘IMSETY’ CANOPIC JAR HEAD, MIDDLE KINGDOM, DYNASTY XII

拍品描述

AN EGYPTIAN BANDED ALABASTER ‘IMSETY’ CANOPIC JAR HEAD, MIDDLE KINGDOM, DYNASTY XII This lot is from a single owner collection and is therefore offered without reserve The Jorgen Ruben Gallery Ledger, entry from 2005: “No. 82, A. B., H BX 1980, Egypt. Canopic lid Asmeth, 12th Dyn.” Gallery price: EUR 12,000 or approx. EUR 20,000 adjusted for inflation at the time of writing. Egypt, circa 1991-1802 BC. The banded lid carved in the form of the head of the Son of Horus, Imsety, the guardian of the liver, wearing a smooth wide wig over his small round face with large turned-out ears, the almond-shaped eyes rimmed, the nose with flaring nostrils, and the mouth with fleshy lips. Important Note: For essential information on the Jorgen Ruben Gallery Ledger and provenance documentation please visit here: www.zacke.at/rubencollection_ledger Dimensions: Width 13 cm, Height 11.3 cm Canopic jars contained internal organs removed from the body during the mummification process. The jars came in sets of four, one each for the liver, lungs, stomach, and intestines. The present example depicts Imsety, guardian of the liver, wearing a wide wig leaving his ears exposed. Imsety was one of the Four Sons of Horus, divine guardians in Egyptian funerary belief. He was depicted with a human head and entrusted with the protection of the liver of the deceased. Unlike his brothers with animal forms, his human appearance stressed closeness to mankind. Imsety was under the protection of Isis, linking him to healing, motherhood, and the myth of Osiris’s resurrection. He was also connected to the south, forming part of the sons’ role as cosmic protectors of the four directions. In funerary texts, he is invoked to preserve vitality and rebirth, ensuring the liver remained unharmed for use in the afterlife. Through this role, Imsety embodied divine care, protection, and renewal within Egyptian religion. Literature comparison: Compare a closely related later calcite canopic lid of Imsety, dated c. 1569-1081 BC, in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, inventory number INV 9933. Compare a closely related later alabaster lid, together with the canopic jar, dated 7th-6th century BC, 10.5 cm size, in the Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest, inventory number 51.2106.1-2.

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