18 - A GROUP OF ANCIENT EGYPTIAN FAIENCE SCARAB BEADS AND A CYLINDER SEAL (4)

A GROUP OF ANCIENT EGYPTIAN FAIENCE SCARAB BEADS AND A CYLINDER SEAL (4) Comprising three scarab beads and a cylinder seal in faience and steatite, broadly of the Second Intermediate Period. One depicts a Hierakosphinx and below a protective cobra to ward off evil spirits. Each pierced for stringing. Gross weight: 7.60g (total) The group is in good archaeological condition, with surface erosion and minor pitting consistent with long-term burial. Two of the scarabs retain crisp details and deep lines, one with a dark mineral accretion to its lower edge; the third is more heavily weathered, its features softened over time. All four pieces are structurally stable with clear, open stringing holes. Provenance From the contents of a private residence, Kent The material 'faience' is closely associated with ancient Egypt. It is made from crushed quartz or sand, mixed together with small amounts of lime and plant ash, and then moulded into beads, amulets and small vessels. The different colours, often of blue and green occur as a result of firing the beads with copper. This glazing was referred to by the Egyptians as 'tjehenet', meaning 'dazzling', and it carried distinctive meanings of new vegetation and rebirth, evoking the fertile Nile. Amulets, as throughout history, were worn by the living and placed with the dead for protection. Among the most recognisable was the wedjat, the Eye of Horus, which according to myth was torn out in the god's struggle with Seth and magically restored. It became a symbol of healing, wholeness and protection. The scarab beetle, was likened to the god Khepri pushing the sun across the sky each morning, and it came to embody renewal and rebirth. From the Middle Kingdom onward, scarabs served both as amulets and as personal seals, their flat undersides engraved with names, titles, protective signs and decorative designs. Faience beads were produced in enormous numbers. In the Late Period, wrapped mummies were often covered with nets of tubular and disc beads, and it is from such sources that many of the beads known today derive. Few ancient necklaces survive on their original threads, so most have been restrung in modern times, often by collectors. Interest in them grew sharply after the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb in 1922, which inspired a wave of Egyptian taste in jewellery and design throughout the interwar years.