I got this from Ken today, well packaged and super fast delivery. It was a good price and something I've always wanted. Egypt, New Kingdom, 16th - 11th Century BC Blue faience scarab measuring 27mm. Intact with a nice blue color, simple incised details, blank base. ex. DeVries Collection. Carl DeVries (born 1921, died 2010), research associate and professor for the Oriental Institute, was a renowned collector of antiquities. Dr. DeVries attended Wheaton College in Illinois, earning his B.A. in 1942, M.A. in 1944 and B.D. in 1947. Because he lost an eye as a teenager he could not serve in the military during World War II. Wheaton recruited him as a 22-year-old to be head coach for track and football. Known as "The Kid Coach”, he served on the coaching staff from 1942 to 1952. He served as an instructor in Biblical archaeology at Wheaton from 1945 until 1952 before leaving to pursue his Ph.D. in archaeology from the University of Chicago, which he attained in 1960. As a member of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago he excavated in Egypt from 1950 to 1972 and served on many culturally important undertakings such as the Nubian Expedition and Aswan Dam Recovery Project. Many items in his collection were purchased in Luxor from Sayed Molattam, a noted antiquities dealer based in Luxor, where Devrie’s work with the Oriental Institute was based. Soon I'll have enough to make a necklace! My other piece: Faience Eye of Horus Amulet (Wedjat), VI Dynasty to Ptolemaic Period Eye of Horus Amulet, Light blue Faience, no black detail, looking right, 15mm. The 'sound' eye that restores life. Petrie 138
Nice! That's a big ol' scarab, alright. Here's one I have with the same provenance as yours. It's a little cracked, but I like it because of the flying saucer depicted on the base. Clearly...
Nice one, Randy. I've been so tempted to get a few antiques like these, but I really don't need another side hobby.
Cool antiquities!! Like Mat, I find my current coin budget already screaming in pain...so I'm resisting going off in other directions---especially after my last 'fossil' diversion
Fun pickup, Randy . Like Mat and Mikey, I'm tempted but reluctant to go down another expensive collecting path. I did buy one a year or so ago, although unfortunately it lacks a UFO Blue glazed steatite scarab. Egypt, Late Period, 664-332 BC. Face engraved with winged Isis standing right before a solar disk and a cartouche containing r’nfr, or “may beauty exist”; below, the hieroglyph n’b or “lord” (14x10mm). Crack down center with some very minor loss of material on back. Ex Christie’s London ‘Fine Antiquities,’ 10 July 1991, lot 85 (part of).
I'm not surprised so many of us are interested in scarabs alongside coins; they're very complementary interests. Here's my heart scarab. I'm still looking for a "higher grade" reverse to be able to read more of the Book of the Dead but this is a fun piece in the meantime: 3rd Intermediate Period. 1069-664 BC. Green stone (siliciclastic indurated stone) heart scarab (55x38mm). Heart scarab with eight-line inscription on face, quoting Spell 30B from the Book of the Dead.
Joe: Do Heart Scarabs have writing on the base? I understand the large Heart Scarabs were plain. Here is my large Scarab, and I keep suspecting it is a Heart Scarab, but has inscriptions on the bottom... I am still learning about this wonderful collecting segue. Nice way to touch Egyptian History as they had no coins until the Ptolemies. Egypt Amenhotep III Scarab 1390-1352 BCE cartouch Neb Maat Ra 43.37g 45mm ex Gustave Mustake
SCARABS: Egypt SCARAB Middle Kingdom 2065-1650 BCE Scarabaeus Sphinx Egypt SCARAB Seti I ca 1291-1278 BCE 19th Dynasty ex Zuzim Egypt Scarab Pamai Pamay 830 - 773 BC 8th Pharaoh of the 22nd Dynasty 960 - 766 BC High Priest of Ma'at. Egypt SCARAB Thuthmosis III ca 1504-1450 BCE ex CNG ex Hendin
EYE of HORUS: Egypt Faience Eye of Horus Amulet ca 1070-332 BCE 3rd Int to Late Per - Blue glaze double sided Egypt Faience Eye of Horus Amulet ca 1070-713 BCE 3rd Int Per - orange glaze Petrie Amulets plate XXV 19mm
Collecting antiquities has always been complimentary to collecting ancient coins (technically they are both the same). Much more so in the past, but less so in the last 15 years or so. I think this is due to the fact that people dont go to coin shows anymore but instead buy almost exclusively online. In the 'old days' dealers had lots of antiquities to go along side their coins and most people collected both. But now coins shows are nearly dead and most collectors now are unaware of or have not been exposed to antiquities on a personal level. Antiquities are really quite intriguing and in almost all cases provide a much more personal and intimate link to those who lived before us than coins do. Anyway, I like both, and I suppose I have as many antiquities as coins, maybe more, I dont know, I never counted. I've posted photos before, but they seem to grow.
Thanks all and wonderful posts! As Ken said, it definitely feels more 'personal and intimate.' I fee the same with hole coins as well.
Some of them do, although the plain based ones are more prevalent. Here's a fantastic example which I unfortunately underbid: https://cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=307974
Great pick up, my spaced friend! Antiquities are total boss, especially scarabs. My brother has quite a few artifacts and I have a couple. Here's a pic of bro's scarab, the colours on this one are dope: Erin
Thank you. What a gorgeous example. Went for 5x estimate. I would understand 2x or 3x. However, it is a beautiful Heart Scarab. Mine has no string hole on the axis, is rather large, so it is possibly a Heart Scarab. As it is stone, it is much too heavy to be a jewelry or accent piece.
