19 - A LIMESTONE TALATAT RELIEF OF TWO LADIES-IN-WAITING, ONE HOLDING AN OSTRICH-FEATHER FAN, AMARNA PERIOD, REIGN OF AKHENATEN, CIRCA 1353-1335 BC

A LIMESTONE TALATAT RELIEF OF TWO LADIES-IN-WAITING, ONE HOLDING AN OSTRICH-FEATHER FAN, AMARNA PERIOD, REIGN OF AKHENATEN, CIRCA 1353-1335 BC Expert’s note The identification of the two women as ladies-in-waiting of the Amarna royal court is supported by two remarkably close reliefs in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. The most important comparison is a limestone relief of Male and Female Attendants, dating to the reign of Akhenaten and probably originally from Amarna ( fig. 1). The Met explicitly identifies the women as ladies-in-waiting. They follow male attendants as members of the royal entourage and carry ostrich-feather fans. The correspondence with the present fragment is particularly close: the women wear similarly close-fitting pleated garments, display the characteristic elongated hands of Amarna art, and the principal figure holds the long handle of a fan, the feathers of which were originally situated in the now-lost upper section of the relief. A second relief provides the wider context (fig. 2). It depicts the much larger figure of Queen Nefertiti followed by bowing male courtiers and a row of three ladies-in-waiting. Their smaller scale and ordered arrangement demonstrate their position within the carefully structured hierarchy of the Amarna royal entourage. The term “lady-in-waiting” is used here in the Egyptological sense for elite female attendants attached to the royal household. These were not ordinary servants. They accompanied members of the royal family during ceremonial and public appearances. Particularly significant is the long kerchief held by the smaller woman on the present fragment: the Met notes that the courtiers on the closely related relief carry long kerchiefs as markers of their status. The identification is further supported by the 2012 expertise of Jean-Louis Domercq, who attributed the relief to the Amarna period and Hermopolis and cited John D. Cooney’s Amarna Reliefs from Hermopolis in American Collections (Brooklyn Museum, 1965), specifically the parallels entitled “Ladies in waiting” and “Attendants of the Royal Family.” Taken together, the evidence is compelling: the Amarna style, female court dress, ceremonial fan, status kerchief, scale and arrangement of the figures, and the close parallels from the Hermopolis/Amarna corpus identify the two women as members of Akhenaten’s royal entourage – specifically as ladies-in-waiting. Egypt, Amarna Period, Dynasty XVIII, reign of Akhenaten, circa 1353-1335 BC. Provenance: The private collection of Jean Lebon, before 1978. With Galerie du Sycomore, Paris, France, acquired from the above in 1978. A private collection in Marseille, France, acquired from the above in 2012. Thereafter with Galerie Ghezelbash, Paris, France. A copy of a handwritten purchase note, written and signed by Jean Lebon, addressed to Galerie du Sycomore, dated 18 April 1978, confirming the sale of four Egyptian antiquities, accompanies the lot. A copy of an invoice from Galerie du Sycomore, dated 6 November 2012, confirming the dating above, accompanies the lot. A copy of a certificate of authenticity, written and signed by Jean-Louis Domercq of Galerie du Sycomore, dated 16 November 2012, confirming the dating above, accompanies the lot. The Galerie du Sycomore, founded by Jean-Louis Domercq, opened on the Rue des Beaux-Arts in Paris in 1971 and has since amassed over fifty years of experience in the field of antiquities. In 1993, the gallery relocated to Geneva, Switzerland, as Sycomore Ancient Art, specializing in antiquities. Condition: Good condition with old wear, commensurate with age. Obvious losses, scattered nicks and scratches, expected weathering, signs of erosion, and encrustations. French Export Licenses: Certificat d’exportation pour un bien culturel, nr. 125050, dated 1 March 2011, and nr. 260567, dated 30 April 2026, have been granted. Copies of these two documents accompany this lot. Art Loss Register: ALR Ref. S00049449, dated 21 June 2011. A copy of the certification document accompanies the lot. Weight: 4.2 kg (incl. stand) Dimensions: Length 27 cm (excl. stand), Height 28.2 cm (incl. stand) Mounted on an associated stand. (2) Due to length restriction on Drouot this entry is shortened. For full description please visit www.zacke.at.