40 - Ɏ AN EXCEPTIONALLY FINE EGYPTIAN IVORY FIGURE OF A NUDE WOMAN WITH A DISTINCTIVE HELMET-FORM WIG, CIRCA 6TH–4TH CENTURY BC OR EARLIER

Ɏ AN EXCEPTIONALLY FINE EGYPTIAN IVORY FIGURE OF A NUDE WOMAN WITH A DISTINCTIVE HELMET-FORM WIG, CIRCA 6TH–4TH CENTURY BC OR EARLIER Expert’s note Small-scale figures carved from ivory belong among the most intimate and compelling creations of ancient Egyptian sculpture. Freed from the monumentality and rigid conventions of official stone statuary, they allowed the sculptor to concentrate extraordinary expressive power within a remarkably small format. The present figure is dominated by the extraordinary helmet-form wig, its densely hatched surface forming an almost architectural counterpoint to the smooth, emphatically nude body below. Such elaborate coiffures were never merely incidental details in Egyptian art: hair and wigs could communicate beauty, sexuality, status, ritual identity, and transformation. Nude female figures of this broad tradition were once rather simplistically described as “concubine figures.” Modern scholarship has moved away from this interpretation. Their emphatic femininity, nudity, and frequent funerary context are instead understood in relation to the regenerative powers of female sexuality, fertility, and rebirth, while related Middle Kingdom types have also been connected with ritual performers associated with Hathor. Finely carved in the round, the slender nude female figure stands rigidly upright, her elongated arms held close to the body and her long legs drawn together, creating a strikingly columnar silhouette. The emphatically modeled breasts and buttocks and gently swelling abdomen contrast with the otherwise spare, almost geometric treatment of the body. Her face is framed by an imposing helmet-form wig, deeply incised with a dense hatched pattern, lending the figure a remarkably distinctive and almost architectural presence. Provenance: Arts d' Orient, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, France, 25 September 1997, lot 301. Christie’s London, United Kingdom, 20 April 2005, lot 58, mid-estimate of GBP 6,500 or approximately EUR 14,750 adjusted for inflation and converted at the time of writing. An important private collector from Paris, France, acquired from the above. Condition: Good condition with minor wear, few losses, fine age cracks, and the head reattached. Fine naturally grown patina overall. Weight: 23.8 g Dimensions: Height 11.2 cm Literature comparison: Compare a closely related bone figure of a lady, dated 1069-664 BC, 6 cm tall, in the Musée du Louvre, inventory number E 14264. Compare a closely related ivory figure of a lady, dated 1349-1295 BC, 10.5 cm tall, in the Musée du Louvre, inventory number E 27429. Trade Certificate: In accordance with new EU regulations that went into effect in January 2022, we have applied for a certificate to sell this item within the EU. We expect the Austrian Federal Ministry for Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology to issue the certificate in 2-3 weeks. The item can only be shipped / handed over once the certificate has been issued. This item contains ivory, rhinoceros horn, tortoise shell, and/or some types of tropical wood and is subject to CITES when exporting outside the EU. It is typically not possible to export such items outside of the EU, including to the UK. Therefore, after this item has the necessary trade certificate, it can only be shipped within the EU or picked up in our gallery in person. Due to length restriction on Drouot this entry is shortened. For full description please visit www.zacke.at.