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Published & Exhibited: Oliver Forge and Brendan Lynch, Fragments. From the Tiber to the Ganges, 3 July-10 July 2015, London, no. 6
Egypt. Finely carved in raised relief, depicting the hands and waist of a pharaoh holding a long staff in one hand and an ankh, the ancient Egyptian symbol of life, in the other. The king wears an elaborately pleated royal kilt centered by an ornate ceremonial cobra apron. The apron is finely worked with alternating vertical bands of braided, beaded, and geometric ornament, flanked by two rearing uraei with expanded hoods, their long, slender bodies extending upward along either side to form the outer borders of the central panel. The sharply incised pleats and intricate ornamentation of the apron contrast effectively with the smoothly modeled arm and hand. The opaque limestone is of a soft, creamy-beige tone.
Provenance: The Central School of Arts and Crafts, London, 1930s. Oliver Forge and Brendan Lynch, London, 2015, acquired from the above. The Central School of Arts and Crafts was established by the London County Council in 1896 as an institution dedicated to the teaching of fine and applied arts. Founded in the spirit of the Arts and Crafts movement associated with William Morris and John Ruskin, the school became an important center for artistic and design education in London. In 1966, it was renamed the Central School of Art and Design. Oliver Forge & Brendan Lynch, founded in 1998, is a London- and New York-based independent dealership specializing in antiquities including Near Eastern, Egyptian, Greek, Roman, as well as Indian, Islamic, and Southeast Asian art, especially miniature paintings and manuscripts. The principals—Oliver Forge and Brendan Lynch—are former directors of the Antiquities and Indian & Islamic departments at Sotheby’s London. They act both for vendors and buyers, placing works in major institutions around the world: Ashmolean, Fitzwilliam, British Museum, Victoria & Albert Museum; abroad to the Getty, the Rietberg Museum, the Staatliche Museum ?gyptischer Kunst, among others. They also manage private collections, handle auctions, conduct valuations, and provide expertise in authenticity.
Condition: Good condition with obvious losses, minor signs of weathering and erosion, few small watermarks, and traces of prolonged burial.
Weight: 186 g (excl. stand), 661 g (incl. stand)
Dimensions: Length 13.3 cm (excl. stand), Height 17.2 cm (incl. stand)
With a modern stand. (2)
Expert’s note
The elaborate royal costume provides an important indication for the dating of the present fragment. While aprons incorporating uraei have a considerably earlier history in Egyptian royal iconography – a Middle Kingdom statue of Senusret III in the British Museum already shows a beaded central panel terminating in two cobras – increasingly elaborate forms became particularly prominent during the later New Kingdom.
The term “cobra apron” is used in Egyptological literature for a distinctive element of royal costume and regalia characterized by two or more rearing cobras. Although the precise configuration varied considerably, the uraei served not merely as decoration but as potent emblems of divine protection and kingship. The cobra apron was conventionally represented frontally, allowing its complex construction and symbolic imagery to remain fully visible.
The present example is particularly elaborate. Two large uraei flank a central panel composed of alternating braided, beaded, and patterned vertical bands, while their elongated bodies rise along its sides. This richly ornamented apron is combined with a deeply pleated royal kilt, producing the complex layering and strong contrasts of texture characteristic of royal costume during the Ramesside period.
Such elaborate ceremonial aprons are well documented during the 19th Dynasty. A limestone relief showing Seti I and the future Ramesses II, now in the Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures, Chicago, depicts the king wearing a kilt with a ceremonial apron decorated with five pendent uraei. Under Ramesses II, royal regalia could become particularly elaborate, with the aprons of royal kilts sometimes terminating in entire friezes of uraei.
The dating is further supported by studies of New Kingdom royal sculpture, which note that kilts with aprons decorated with uraei and solar discs are not securely attested before Amenhotep III but become widely represented in Ramesside iconography. Comparable elaborate ceremonial kilts are known under both Seti I and Ramesses II. The exceptionally crisp carving of the pleats, the complex construction of the cobra apron, and the refined differentiation between smooth flesh and densely patterned textile therefore support an attribution of the present relief to the 19th Dynasty.
The shendyt was a kilt-like garment worn in ancient Egypt, which was made of cloth and was worn around the waist, typically extending to above the knees. Shendyts are depicted on pharaohs, deities, and commoners in a variety of situations in Egyptian artwork.
Auction Result Comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Christie’s London, 7 December 2022, lot 4
Price: GBP 59,220 or approx. EUR 82,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An Egyptian limestone relief, New Kingdom, 18th Dynasty, Amarna Period, circa 1351–1334 BC, 27.9 cm wide
Expert remark: Compare the related Egyptian limestone relief, similarly finely carved with figural decoration and of comparable fragmentary character. Note that the Christie’s example dates to the preceding 18th Dynasty and is executed in the distinctive Amarna style, whereas the present relief belongs to the subsequent Ramesside tradition of the 19th Dynasty and depicts a king wearing an elaborate cobra apron.
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