68 - AN EGYPTIAN MULTICOLORED FAIENCE, CARNELIAN AND AGATE BEAD NECKLACE

AN EGYPTIAN MULTICOLORED FAIENCE, CARNELIAN AND AGATE BEAD NECKLACE Middle Kingdom to Late Period, circa 1800-600 BC. Finely assembled, the necklace composed of densely strung multicolored faience disc beads on a brown cord, the lower section interspersed with six green hardstone disc beads, four spherical carnelian beads, and centered by a large oval agate bead. Provenance: The private collection of Lloyd and Jeanne Raport, Washington DC and Florida, USA, acquired between 1972-2000, and thence by descent. Lloyd and Jeanne Raport (1928-2025) were collectors of Greek, Roman, and Egyptian antiquities whose interest in ancient art developed during the 1960s. Largely self-taught, they studied auction catalogues and reference works extensively and formed a close friendship with archaeologist Dr. Gus W. Van Beek (1922–2012), curator of Old World Archaeology at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History. Their interest in archaeology also led them to participate in a Smithsonian excavation at Tell Jemmeh in the Negev Desert, Israel. Over several decades, the Raports assembled a substantial collection while also becoming generous supporters of museums and universities. Beginning in 1984, they donated works to numerous institutions, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Walters Art Museum, the Detroit Institute of Arts, and the Brooklyn Museum. The University of Maryland received more than 130 antiquities from the Raport Collection, forming an important study collection for teaching and research. Condition: Good condition, commensurate with age. The beads restrung on a modern brown cord. Expected wear, minor chips, nicks, losses, discoloration, few encrustations. Weight: 21 g Dimensions: Length 90 cm Bead necklaces were among the most enduring forms of personal adornment in ancient Egypt, worn in daily life and also placed with the dead, where they could carry protective and regenerative significance. Their compositions ranged from simple strings of faience beads to more elaborate combinations incorporating carnelian, amethyst, agate, quartz, and other semi-precious stones, creating varied arrangements of color, texture, and shape. Faience was especially valued for its brilliant blue and green hues, which evoked precious materials such as turquoise and lapis lazuli and were closely associated with fertility, renewal, and eternal life. Such necklaces could therefore function simultaneously as ornaments, expressions of status, and amuletic objects, a tradition already well established by the Middle Kingdom and continuing through later periods of Egyptian history. Literature comparison: Compare a closely related group of 82 turquoise faience disc beads, New Kingdom, excavated at Amara West, Nubia, Tomb 101, each measuring up to 0.75 cm in diameter, in the British Museum, London, museum no. EA87240, registration no. 2016,1001.1136. Compare a closely related necklace composed of blue faience, beryl, carnelian, and hematite, Second Intermediate Period, Dynasty 13 late-15, 48 cm long, in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, object no. 22.1.276. Auction result comparison: Type: Closely related Auction: Christie’s New York, 8 December 2016, lot 78 Price: USD 5,000 or approx. EUR 6,100 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing Description: An Egyptian faience disk-bead necklace, New Kingdom Expert remark: Compare the closely related arrangement of numerous small faience disc beads and the multicolored appearance of the strand. Note the smaller size (38.1 cm).