Description : An Egyptian limestone mould Ptolemaic Period, circa 332-30 B.C.The square plaque carved in sunken relief with a Bennu bird, with incised eye and feather details, two long crest feathers flowing from the back of the head, 16cm x 17cm
Provenance:Gustave Jéquier (1868-1946) collection, Switzerland, and thence by descent. The Collection of Gustave Jéquier, Christie's, New York, 4 June 2008, lot 26. Private collection.The Bennu bird was an important avian deity associated with the gods Atum, Ra and Osiris. It was believed to rise anew like the sun, and was most probably the prototype for the Greek phoenix. While in the Old Kingdom it was represented as a yellow wagtail, motacilla flava, by the New Kingdom it was usually depicted as a grey heron, ardea cinera, see R. H. Wilkinson, The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt, London, 2003, p.212. For a similar mould incised with a Bennu bird see Petrie Museum, University College London, acc. no. UC34694.
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