Beschreibung:

HEAVY EGYPTO-PERSIAN BRONZE PHIALE WITH IBEXES, LEONINE-HEADED AEGIS, PSEUDO-CARTOUCHES, AND LOTUS FLOWERS CIRCA 7TH-4TH CENTURY B.C. 5 3/4 in. (256 grams, 14.7 cm wide). Shallow profile with rounded underside and rounded rim; underside with central impressed cruciform motif with one eccentric arm; inner face with two ropework bands flanking stamped images (advancing ibex, lotus in blossom, leonine-headed aegis (perhaps Sekhmet); central ring of pellets with herringbone borders, cruciform design of four lotus plants above stems with leonine-headed aegis and pseudo cartouches topped with Maat-feather plumes. PROVENANCE: From a private UK collection since the 1980s. Acquired mid 2000s. Property of a London gentleman. Accompanied by a scholarly report by Egyptologist Paul Whelan. LITERATURE: Cf. similar phiale (offering bowl) lacking the detailed stampwork in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, under accession number 1989.11.7. CONDITION