Lot 1788
Sacred Ram - with Four Heads, in Bronze. Egypt, Late Dynastic, c. 650-350 BC. This plump animal strides forward, viewing the world from two pairs of addorsed heads. The lower legs of the creature are now lost, otherwise ram is sharp and well preserved, with pleasing variegated red, brown, and green patina. Length: 2-11/16"; mounted on wood base.
Estimated Value $3,500 - 4,500.
The type is generally uncommon among ram-figured amulets, and rare in bronzes. Cf. a very similar example, in blue faience, once in the Christos Bastis Collection: Sotheby's, New York, Christos G. Bastis Collection (12-9-99), lot 40. Carol Andrews, in her Amulets of Ancient Egypt, was uncertain as to which Ram god this four-headed version might be the embodiment of. "It might be associated with the cult of the god known simply as the 'Ram of Mendes'…. Elsewhere the four-headed ram is associated with Osiris and Re, as well as with other deities…."
|
| |
| Unsold |
