AN EGYPTIAN FAIENCE ‘PAPYRUS COLUMN’ AMULET AND A JASPER PENANNULAR HAIR RING, LATE PERIOD OR EARLIER

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AN EGYPTIAN FAIENCE ‘PAPYRUS COLUMN’ AMULET AND A JASPER PENANNULAR HAIR RING, LATE PERIOD OR EARLIER This lot is from a single owner collection and is therefore offered without reserve Egypt, 664-332 BC or earlier. The amulet, finely modeled in the form of a slender shaft, whose sides taper slightly toward a flaring capital, incised with overlapping, pointed leaves, and is surmounted by a thick, striated suspension loop. The carnelian bead, shaped as a small ring with an oval cross-section and pointed ends, bearing a broad circular perforation at its center and a straight cut that leaves its circumference unfinished. Important Note: For essential information on the Jorgen Ruben Gallery Ledger and provenance documentation please visit here: www.zacke.at/rubencollection_ledger Dimensions: Length 4 cm (the amulet), Diameter 1.4 cm (the hair ring) This amulet depicts a papyrus scepter or column, surmounted by a loop for suspension. The plant, known in ancient Egyptian as wadj, literally meaning ‘green’ or ‘fresh’, together with the blue-green faience, evokes life, vitality, and regeneration—qualities desired by both the living and the dead. Papyrus-column amulets are difficult to date with precision. They first appeared during Dynasty XVIII of the New Kingdom but are particularly well attested in the Late Period, especially from Dynasties XXVI to XXX, and continued to be produced into the early Ptolemaic period. Penannular hair rings such as the present lot were long thought to be earrings. However, their openings are generally too narrow to fit over the earlobe or cartilage, suggesting that they were instead worked into the hair or incorporated into wigs. Such rings first appeared during the New Kingdom and remained in use throughout the Late Period. Literature comparison: Compare a closely related faience ‘papyrus column’ amulet, dated Late Period, 3.6 cm high, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, object number 04.2.66. Compare a closely related faience ‘papyrus column’ amulet, dated Late Period, 5.3 cm high, in the British Museum, registration number E65. Compare a closely related smaller hair ring or penannular earring, dated Dynasties XIX-XXX, 0.6 cm diameter, in the Toledo Museum of Art, object number 1925.529.

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