Ancient Sculpture and Works of Art

Ancient Sculpture and Works of Art

View full screen - View 1 of Lot 266. AN EGYPTIAN GNEISS (“CHEPHREN DIORITE”) BUST OF MYCERINUS, 4TH DYNASTY, REIGN OF MYCERINUS, CIRCA 2550-2530 B.C..

AN EGYPTIAN GNEISS (“CHEPHREN DIORITE”) BUST OF MYCERINUS, 4TH DYNASTY, REIGN OF MYCERINUS, CIRCA 2550-2530 B.C.

Auction Closed

July 2, 04:42 PM GMT

Estimate

150,000 - 250,000 GBP

Lot Details

Description

AN EGYPTIAN GNEISS (“CHEPHREN DIORITE”) BUST OF MYCERINUS, 4TH DYNASTY, REIGN OF MYCERINUS, CIRCA 2550-2530 B.C.


the king gazing lightly upwards, and wearing the divine beard and royal nemes-headcloth with fragmentary ureaus and queue , his body powerfully proportioned.

Height 11.7 cm.

acquired by the present owner prior to 1975


Published

Dietrich Wildung et al., Entdeckungen. Ägyptische Kunst in Süddeutschland, exh. cat. Bayerische Landesbank, Munich, Mainz, 1985, no.16, illus.

Andre Wiese and Silvia Winterhalter, Ägyptische Kunst im Antikenmuseum Basel und Sammlung Ludwig, Basel, 1998, no. 15, illus.

Andre Wiese and Silvia Winterhalter, Ägyptische Kunst im Antikenmuseum Basel und Sammlung Ludwig. Die Ägyptische Abteilung, Mainz, 2001, no. 14, illus.

Jaromir Malek et al., Topographical Bibliography of Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic Texts, Statues, Reliefs and Paintings, vol. 8, Oxford, 1999, nos. 801-203-600




Antikenmuseum Basel und Sammlung Ludwig, Basel, June 1998 to March 2019

In a letter about the present bust dated July 29th, 1982, the Egyptologist Claude Vendersleyen of the Université Catholique de Louvain suggests a date in the 4th Dynasty and identifies the sitter as either Chephren or Mycerinus. The Basel catalogues (op.cit., p. 16 and p. 43) note that the sculptural style is characteristic of the later 4th Dynasty; i.e. the strong features, slightly protruding eyes, thick nose, and full lips. Characteristic of Mycerinus is the small size of the head in relation to the body.


For representations of the king see  G. A. Reisner, Mycerinus. The Temple of the Third Pyramid at Giza, pl. 48. 62g-j. 63a; also compare Egyptian Art in the Age of the Pyramids, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1999, pp. 268-276, nos. 67-70. Several large-scale representations of Mycerinus rank among the greatest works of Egyptian art known; see especially the pair statue in the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Egyptian Art, op. cit., no. 67.


The tomb of Mycerinus, the third of the three Great Pyramids at Giza, contained a magnificent basalt sarcophagus, which disappeared at sea when the British merchantman Beatrice transporting it to England sank in 1838. Theories as to the location range from the Tuscan coast to the Bay of Biscay. The hope of one day finding it however has not been lost. See "The Lost Sarcophagus", Egyptology News Network, January 26, 2011, pp. 1-5.