An Egyptian Polychrome Wood Canopic Chest, Ptolemaic Period, 305-30 B.C.

in the form of a shrine with tapering walls and cavetto cornice, the front painted with the bolted double doors of the shrine, two winged scarabs above, the sides each painted with the mummified deceased lying on a bier, flanked on one side by mourning Isis and Nephthys, and on the other by a mourning goddess and woman, three friezes of linked djed-pillars and girdles of Isis above, the back decorated with a deity (Osiris?) with body in the form of a djed-pillar and wearing an atef-crown, flanked by addorsed deity-headed uraei, and surmounted by a winged deity, the missing lid probably once surmounted by Sokar in the form of a mummified falcon.

Sotheby’s, London, May 31st, 1990, no. 211, illus.
Sotheby’s, London, December 10th-11th, 1992, no. 137, illus.

The wood base is separate from the chest and may not belong. The sides of the chest seem to belong together but may have been reassembled at some stage. Note paint losses visible in photographs. Note large chip in one corner of the cornice and an area of gesso fill on the opposite corner where the cornice meets the walls. There are various small holes from insect damage. Quite a bit of damage and imperfections as would be expected for an object of this kind.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
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Cf.  S. D’Auria, P. Lacovara, and C.H. Roehrig, Mummies & Magic, The Funerary Arts of Ancient Egypt, Boston, 1988, no. 143, and Brooklyn Museum, acc. no. 37.1390E (R.A. Fazzini, "Arts of Asia", 26,6, 1996, fig. 59), and J.H. Taylor and N.C. Strudwick, Mummies, Death and the Afterlife in Ancient Egypt, Treasures from the British Museum, Santa Ana, California, 2005, pp. 82-83.