IMPORTANT NECKLACE Egypt, New Kingdom, late... Lot 39

IMPORTANT NECKLACE Egypt, New Kingdom, late 18th dynasty, circa 1390-1292 BC Ostrich eggshell discs Length (total)_ 73.7 cm Provenance Former Dr. Reynolds Collection, Liverpool Ex-Sotheby's, New York, 8 December 2000, lot 44 English private collection A NEW-KINGDOM OSTRICH EGGSHELLs NECKLACE, LATE DYNASTY 18TH, circa 1390-1292 b.c. 81/8 in. Width as mounted ; 29 in. Length. Composed of finely 68 graduated shell disks pierced in the center and bound together by plyed twine. This necklace is traditionally thought to have been found in the tomb of a king of the late 18th Dynasty. The bird was hunted from earliest times by both Egyptians and Nubians, a practice commemorated on rock-drawings date to Badarian or Naqada I times, and there are also a surprising number of reliefs and paintings of the Dynastic period such as those from the tomb of Bakt III at Beni Hasan (BH15; Newberry 1893: pl. IV) and the 18TH Dynasty tomb of Rekhmira at Thebes (TT100: Davies 1943: pl. XLIV), but the most well-known scene is the one depicted on Tuthankamun's ostrich-feather fan, showing the pharaoh hunting the birds for the feathers that decorate the fan istelf. As for the feathers, the eggshell of this precious bird was also work into jewellery from the Badarian period onwards, taking the from of small disc-beads (shaped, drilled and strung together into simple necklaces), larger perforated discs like this specimen. Composed of 68 ostrich eggshell disc-beads, pierced in the centre and linked together by a long string of interwoven fibres. An explanatory note (fig.1) accompanying the lot identifies the necklace as that of a maid from the tomb of a pharaoh of the late eighteenth dynasty. The ostrich was a bird hunted since the earliest times by the Egyptians and Nubians. There are also a surprising number of reliefs and paintings from the dynastic period such as those in the tomb of Bakt III at Beni Hasan (BH15; Newberry 1893: pl.IV) and the 18th Dynasty tomb of Rekhmire at Thebes (TT100: Davies 1943: pl.XLIV) depicting this ostrich hunting practice. But the most famous scene is that depicted on the Tuthankamun fan - showing the pharaoh hunting birds for the feathers that decorate the fan itself. Like feathers, ostrich eggshell was also prized - worked into jewelry from the Badarian period onwards, in the form of small disc beads (shaped, pierced and strung together into simple necklaces), or larger perforated discs like this specimen. For similar beads see PETRIE, M.F., Naqada and Ballas, London, 1896, pl. LVIII.