This crudely cast object is made of bronze and 5cm in height its base looks like it has been torn off a larger object.
The object was collected by a librarian while on vacation in Egypt it then passed through auction to another person who sold it to an antique dealer.
The RELIABLE dealer told the story that it had been picked up at a pyramid site and was an Egyptian amulet representing a chair. This caused a problem for it does not look anything like an Egyptian chair however it does have the feel of being anthropomorphic.
It has the appearance of a rising cobra attached to the body of an animal perhaps a gazelle. The detail has been well worn particularly to what may have been the cobra's head and it appears to have a tail. Nowhere in my research have I found anything like it in Egyptian art.
As A footnote to my search on this object came the thought to me that stories might have become twisted perhaps the story of it having been found at the site of a pyramid was true but that the site of that pyramid was not Egypt but Peru and this object may actually be a lama a regular object placed in Inca graves?
3 comments:
When first looking at this photo I immediately saw the Gyan Mudra - the Buddist meditative hand position. As for this being present in Egypt maybe someone else may know?
Cheers
Kristy
With no provenience it's really hard to say. When I see it I see the handle of a bronze pot/pan or some other vessel. The ring seems to be a good finger hold with a longer handle which would rest against the palm. This usage would also fit in with it coming off a larger vessel. I haven't been able to find a good example of a similar vessel though.
Thanks to both Kristy and Jonathan for your ideas. Both ideas are good though I am inclined towards the idea of it being a handle to a bronze vessel but who knows.
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