Lot n° 53
Estimation :
30000 - 50000
EUR
Result without fees
Result
: 31 000EUR
Canopic vase with the name of Ptahmes
New... - Lot 53 - Maison R&C, Commissaires-Priseurs Associés
Canopic vase with the name of Ptahmes
New Kingdom, 18th dynasty, c. 1390 to 1353 B.C.
Honey-colored alabaster, banded
Height : 52 cm.
Provenance:
Ferri sale of June 13, 1975
Jean-Loup Despras Gallery in 1977
A handwritten study written on the back of the photo of the object
will be given to the buyer.
Canopic vase sloping upwards and its lid in the shape of a human head inscribed with the name of Osiris Ptahmes. On the top of its body, an inscription engraved on three vertical columns gives, in a New Kingdom version, the traditional formula by which the goddess Neith ensures the perpetual protection of the genie Douamoutef:
(A) "Words said by Neith: I extend my arms on the one who is here, Douamout-
(B) -ef, who is here. The blessed one next to Douamoutef, the Osiris,
(C) the priest Sem, the great chief of the craftsmen, Ptahmes, son of the prophet Menkheper ".
These vases were named canopic because they offered for the first explorers who saw them, a certain resemblance with the figurines representing the Osiris of Canope.
In fact, they appeared from the first attempts to mummify the body, one of the first operations of which consisted in the removal of the main viscera, which little by little were placed under the protection of the tutelary deities of the four cardinal points corresponding to each vase:
FH1 - Imset or Amset, whose name comes from a medicinal plant, was associated with the goddess Isis and the South in order to protect the liver.
FH2 - Hâpy, "the two ducks" or "the two geese" was associated with the goddess Nephthys and the North to protect the lungs.
FH3 - Douamoutef, literally "He who praises his mother" was associated with the goddess Neith and the East to protect the stomach.
FH4 - Kebehsenuf, literally "He who refreshes his brothers", i.e. who restores them physically, was associated with the goddess Serket and the West in order to protect the intestines.
At first rather sober and paunchy, the canopic vases became, like that of Ptahmes, more slender with high shoulders and a narrow base from the reign of Amenhotep III.
The stoppers also evolved. Initially round or flat, they later took on a human form, to take on the features of the deceased at the beginning of the New Kingdom.
It was not until the 19th Dynasty that each vase was closed with a representation of its guardian genie.
As our example dates from the reign of Amenhotep III, it is therefore normal that its stopper should be in human form.
A change of practice in mummification in the XXIst Dynasty led to a temporary abandonment of the canopic vases from the XXIInd to the XXVth Dynasties.
The entrails being replaced in the abdomen after evisceration, accompanied by an amulet in the effigy of one of the four sons of Horus, the canopic vases are no longer used as receptacles, but become fake.
Some late magical texts specify that "to overcome the poison that might manifest itself in the abdomen, the viscera are henceforth assimilated to deities according to the principle of homophony: Imset becomes the liver itself, Hâpy is the spleen, Douamoutef the lungs and Kébehsénouf the intestines.
Ptahmes or Ptahmosè, son of Menkheper, is a high priest of the god Ptah who officiated at Memphis during the XVIIIth century, under the reign of the pharaoh Amenhotep III.
The title "Shem" is not an initial title of the high priest of Memphis. Its importance and its almost exclusive use only came into being in the New Kingdom, in close connection with the ritual of the daily divine cult.
The high priest of Ptah of Memphis carries mainly the title of "great of the chiefs of the craftsmen", or in some exceptional cases, that of "Shem", often both.
He is known in particular by a cube statue from the temple of Ptah-Sokar-Osiris of Memphis in which the statue of the high priest had been placed in order to receive daily offerings. The dignitary, dressed as a high priest, wearing the wig with side braids characteristic of his pontifical office, is decorated with the cartouche of Amenhotep III and is shown crouching with his arms crossed over his knees. Sitting on a square cushion, he looks straight ahead and holds an amulet in his left hand. The base of the statue as well as the back pillar of the statue
are covered with inscriptions mentioning his name and his titles as high priest of Ptah as well as a declaration to the high priests who would succeed him in the pontificate that his name be repeated and that bread, beer and other offerings be offered to his statue on the altar of the god. We also read his filiation, or at least the name of his father: Menkheper, the first prophet of a god who is not mentioned but who is probably local. Ptahmes thus comes from a family of priests from Memphis and certainly began his career early in the service of the god of artisans.
Ptahmes played an important role in the clergy of P
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