Egyptian
A necklace of eleven Egyptian steatite insect amulets and stone beads, Middle Kingdom, 11th – 12th Dynasty, circa 2000 - 1800 BC
Steatite
Length of string: 17 cm; range in amulet lengths: 1.8 cm - 4.3 cm
The necklace is restrung with eleven anatomically detailed insect (possibly grasshopper) amulets interspersed with spherical stone beads in diorite and serpentine.
The necklace is restrung with eleven anatomically detailed insect (possibly grasshopper) amulets interspersed with spherical stone beads in diorite and serpentine.
Provenance
With Beaux Arts Trades, Hong Kong, 1980s (part)
Jean Sigrist Collection, Basel, acquired in the 1960s - 1970s (part)
With Galerie Nefer, Zurich
Private collection, Aarau, thence by descent
Private collection, Switzerland
Exhibitions
On Loan: Antikenmuseum Basel & Sammlung Ludwig, 1998 – 2022Literature
The grasshopper, like the scarab, was a common insect motif in ancient Egypt. It was used as a hieroglyph, a seal, an amulet. Because of its reproductive qualities, such amulets 'probably bestowed fertility, although its swarming behaviour may also have led to connotations of plenty or riches'. C. Andrews, Amulets of Ancient Egypt, London 1994, p. 66.19
of
19