The Dr. John Winnie Collection of Scarabs CNG is proud to present the following selections from the Dr. John N. Winnie Collection of Scarabs. The collection, assembled over some two decades, offers an impressive variety of inscriptions and types. The scarab was a very popular amulet in ancient Egypt, its shape derived from the Scarabaeus sacer, which was revered in Egypt as an embodiment of the creator god and a symbol of rebirth. Due to their regenerative power, they are often found in tombs, although their use was not limited to the funerary world. They were also used as lucky charms and worn, frequently as a ring mount, as protective amulets. This protective function is sometimes underscored by formulas invoking protection from the gods or for good luck (see lots 1728-1729). Some rare scarabs bear the name and titles of officials (see lots 1712-1714) and were used as seals. These almost exclusively date to the Middle Kingdom and Second Intermediate Period and are important as they open a window to the very complex Egyptian administration, often being the only source for the names and titles of the officials of the period. A wide range of materials was used in the manufacture of scarabs and amulets, including faience, carnelian, amethyst, lapis lazuli, jasper, rock crystal, ivory, wood, gold, and glass. Steatite, however, was the preferred material, due to its facility to carve (the soft steatite was afterward hardened through heating) and glaze. Many of the materials are represented below. The following offering is particularly notable for the scaraboids carved in the shape of various animals – a duck, hedgehog, hippopotamus, baboon, frog, and fish – and the impressive quantity of them here offered should not give cause to doubt their rarity. Carving the back of the amulet into an animal added another level of protection, invoking the deity the animal was associated with and supplementing the protective force provided by the base inscription. The scarabs here have been arranged in the following order by typology and inscriptions: Scarabs with names and titles of officials (lots 1712-1714) Scarabs with geometric designs and from the Hyksos period (lots 1715-1721) Scarabs with Pharaonic names (lots 1722-1727) Scarabs with protection formulas and figures of gods (lots 1728-1736) Human-headed scaraboids (lots 1737-1739) Scarabs of semi-precious stones (lots 1740-1744) Scarabs imitating nature (lots 1745-1749) Winged funerary scarabs (lots 1750 and 1751) Scaraboid amulets of other animals (lots 1752-1762) All of the lots below are from the Dr. John Winnie Collection with the exception of the following: 1749, 1750, 1751, and 1763.
Additional lots from the Dr. John Winnie Collection of scarabs will appear in Electronic Auction 287, which closes Wednesday, September 26, 2012, starting at 10AM EDT.
Works Cited Basel
Hornung, E. and Stahelin, E., Skarabaen und andere Siegelamulette aus Basler Sammlungen (Mainz, 1977).
Ben-Tor
Ben-Tor, D., The Scarab, A Reflection of Ancient Egypt (Tel Aviv, 1993).
Geneva
Vodoz, I., Catalogue raisonne des scarabees graves du Musee d’art et d’histoire de Geneve (Geneva, 1979).
Giveon Giveon, R. and Kertesz, T., Egyptian Scarabs and Seals from Acco. From the Collection of the Israel Departement of Antiquities and Museums (Freiburg, 1986). Hall
Hall, H.R., Catalogue of Egyptian Scarabs etc. in the British Museum, Vol. 1, Royal Scarabs (London, 1913).
Jaeger
Jaeger, B., Essai de classification et datation des scarabees Menkheperre (Fribourg-Gottingen, 1982).
Martin Martin, G.T., Egyptian Administrative and Private-Name Seals, Principally in the M iddle Kingdom and Second Intermediate Period (Oxford, 1971). Matouk Matouk, F., Corpus du Scarabee egyptien. Vol. 1, Les scarabees royaux (Beirut, 1972), and Vol. 2, analyse thematique (Beirut, 1977). NFA Numismatic Fine Art, Scarabs and Design Amulets. A Glimpse of Ancient Egypt in m iniature, catalogue of public auction, New York, 11 December 1991. Niccacci
Niccacci, A., Hyksos Scarabs (Jerusalem, 1980).
Petrie
Petrie, W.M.F., Scarabs and Cylinders with names (London, 1917).
Rowe Rowe, A. A., Catalogue of Egyptian Scarabs, Scaraboids, Seals and Amulets in the Palestine Archaeological Museum (Cairo, 1936).
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