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Egypt, circa 1550-1069 BC. Carved in relief, the fragment preserves the upper part of Hathor’s face, dominated by a large, naturalistically rendered eye beneath a sweeping cosmetic line. Her bovine ear emerges beside the face, while deeply incised strands of her wig retain traces of blue pigment. To the right rises a monumental uraeus cobra, its expanded hood and ribbed neck carved in bold relief. Traces of red pigment survive on the crown above its head.
Expert’s Note
A particularly close comparison is a painted limestone head of Hathor from Deir el-Medina in the Louvre (E 14389 BIS), dated to the New Kingdom on the basis of its excavation context. Both fragments give unusual prominence to a large, human-looking eye and render the goddess’s face with striking directness. The Louvre fragment has lost the areas where the bovine ear and any adjoining ornament, including an uraeus cobra, might have appeared; the present work preserves the ear and the exceptionally large crowned uraeus cobra.
The scale of the surviving fragment, approximately 43 cm wide, suggests that it belonged to a substantial architectural element. An original size of roughly 90 × 60 cm is probable. In a certificate dated 5 June 1989, Galerie du Sycomore, Paris, already assigned the fragment to “Egypte. Nouvel Empire (Deuxième moitié du deuxième millénaire avant J.C.).” The Louvre comparison supports that attribution.
Provenance: With Galerie du Sycomore, Paris, France. A private collection in Marseille, France, acquired from the above in 1989. A copy of a certificate of authenticity from Galerie du Sycomore, Paris, dated 5 June 1989, written and signed by Jean-Louis Domercq, dating the present lot to the New Kingdom, accompanies the lot. Galerie du Sycomore, founded by Jean-Louis Domercq, opened on the Rue des Beaux-Arts in Paris in 1971 and has since amassed over fifty years of experience in the field of antiquities. In 1993, the gallery relocated to Geneva, Switzerland, as Sycomore Ancient Art, specializing in antiquities.
Condition: Very good condition, commensurate with age. Old wear, obvious losses, scattered nicks and chips, expected signs of weathering, soil deposits, and typical encrustations. The column with traces of blue pigment to the hair and red pigment to the cobra.
French Export License: Certificat d’exportation pour un bien culturel, no. 247705, dated 5 July 2024, has been granted. A copy accompanies this lot.
Weight: 25.1 kg (incl. stand)
Dimensions: Length 43 cm (excl. stand), Height 32 cm (incl. stand)
Hathor columns appeared at the beginning of the New Kingdom. Their capitals could bear the goddess’s face on two opposing sides, beneath a shrine-shaped element resembling the sound box of a sistrum. Later examples increasingly placed her face on all four sides. This arrangement presented Hathor as a goddess whose presence extended in every direction. Such columns were used in temples associated with female deities; smaller examples may also have formed part of kiosks or other structures. A later, four-sided example inscribed for Nectanebo I is held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, object no. 28.9.7.
The present lot’s side view provides an important clue to its original form: The monumental uraeus cobra occupies the corner of the capital, exactly where normally a second Hathor face would appear on a conventional four-sided capital. By contrast, a Ptolemaic capital sold by Christie’s (see auction result comparison below) preserves Hathor’s head on one side, no cobra on the corner, and parts of two further Hathor heads on the adjoining sides. The present arrangement therefore differs substantially from that later type and supports an earlier, two-faced conception of the capital, consistent with its New Kingdom attribution.
Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 9 April 2024, lot 124
Price: USD 63,000 or approx. EUR 58,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An Egyptian sandstone column capital with Hathor, Ptolemaic period
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling of the head and bovine ears. Note the lack of uraeus cobra, the smaller eyes, the simplified wig, and the much later dating.
Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s London, 15 April 2015, lot 166
Price: GBP 27,500 or approx. EUR 46,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An Egyptian limestone Hathoric pillar, Late period-Ptolemaic period
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling of the head and bovine ears. Note the lack of uraeus cobra, the smaller eyes, and the much later dating.
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