Didier Attaix

Thank you for your detailed reply, I did appreciate, and fully trust you!

Best regards,

Didier

Hello everybody,

This one was also bought in Turkey in the 70s by my life partner, Josiane. She thought she'd thrown it away, believing it to be a fake, but she found it again.
I gently cleaned the bronze. It seems to me to be a Hadrianus coin. The diameter is 4 cm, the weight 20 g.

Any reply would be appreciated.

Yours sincerely

Didier

Again, Many thanks, I really appreciated

All the best,

Didier

Many thanks for your detailed reply, I really appreciated.

All the best,

Didier

Hello,

I also have two Byzantine coins with no idea of what they are. I am attaching two docx documents so that after opening them you can stretch the images. 

Any comment will be wellcome.

All the best,

Didier

Byzantine_coin1.docx Byzantine_coin2.docx

Yes it could be, but unfortunately I did not find any close parallel, and this is not a pendant...

Hello everybody,

I have 2 Roman coins. Any comment will be appreciated.

I am attaching the 2 docx documents so that you can stretch the images provided.

All the best,

Didier

Roman_Aurelianus_coin.docx Roman_coin.docx

I did repair correctly the inlay, see attachment. This was not a piece of cake, especially reattaching the rolling nose. 

All the best,

Didier

I suspect the inlay has amuletic purpose, but this is only a speculation. 

Best,

Didier

I agree with your opinion. I told Hussam that it was a Seth amulet, but he did not change his erroneous description in his COA (attached below). 

However, I strongly believe Hussam to be a much more trustable seller than both Christie's and Bonhams. They are unfortunately selling (very few, I admit) fakes but at rocket prices to unexperienced buyers 😠 🥵

Have a nice day,

Didier

Yes, thanks for your comment! Although I collect mainly Egyptian artefacts, I have in my collection a superb Phoenician or Carthaginian glass pendant, see below. 
This a quadrichrome one, the mouth is red. H 2.9 cm

All the best,

Didier

Hello everybody,

I bought last week on Catawiki (which I hate because of their numerous fakes sold weekly) a stunning inlay. It was hopefully for sale by Chris Martin in London, who I fully trust. This is a tiny artefact L 1.6, H 0.7, T 0.4 cm

Although badly repaired (I will try to fix that) this inlay is interesting for at least 3 reasons: 

1. It is not flat, as usually. The red nose is indeed in relief,

2. The upper face is convex as you can see on the upper image,

3. The lower face is made of another layer of totally transluscent glass, see lower image. 

I am not sure at all it is Romano-Egyptian. Thus, I did send my pictures to the Corning glass Museum. I hope they may identify the origin of the inlay and on the technique used to make it.

All the best,

Didier

Hello everybody,

Hello everybody,

I received yesterday a silver Seth amulet, which is very rare for two reasons:

1. Silver was imported in Ancient Egypt and there are few silver artefacts compared to gold ones. Gold was abundant in Nubia, now Sudan.  

2. Seth amulets are very rare. I am aware of only 5: one in copper alloy in the British Museum (#EA22897), another wooden one also in the British Museum (see Fig. 79c in Carol Andrews,  Amulets of Ancient Egypt, 1994) , one glazed in the Art Institute of Chicago (#X36), and one in gold in Le Louvre (#E7659). The 5th one, an inlay in red jasper, was since years in my own collection. 

As you know Seth was the devil because he killed his brother Osiris. Therefore, amulets of Seth were only worn, especially under the Ramesside Period (Dynasty 19), but never placed in mummy bandages (see Carol Andrews, p. 26).

In any case I bought my silver Seth from Hussam Zurquieh, who I fully trust. Hussam has been accused of selling fakes. This was not deliberate but by ignorance:  

a) Hussam sold me a very sophisticated fake of possibly Mehet-Weret, an obscure goddess mostly known by a bed in the treasure of king Tut. I was dubious and asked Ralf Kotalla in Germany to perform a thermoluminescence test of this amulet. Verdict: recent glazed fake. I sent the Kotalla's report to Hussam, asking him for either a refund or an exchange for an amulet of similar prize. Hussam did not make any difficulty. He accepted an exchange. In addition, Hussam did not ask for a return of the fake, clearly indicating that he was intending to resell it.

b) Hussam described my silver Seth amulet as a Khnum one in electrum. I gently cleaned and polished it. This is a hollow silver one, not in electrum. However, this is in my opinion, a masterpiece. The amulet is large (H 5.6 cm), well detailed, and in a rare material without any parallel to my knowledge.

Apologies for this long message,

Have a nice day,

Didier

Hello everybody,

I have currently for sale two reference books out of print on Egyptian artefacts. 

First book is 'Catalogue Général des Antiquités du Musée du Caire, Amulets Volume 2' by George Reisner is exceptional as it has been leather rebound (see pictures 1-4). Published in 1958, with 20 drawing plates (see picture 3) and 31 picture plates (see picture 4).

 

Second book 'Jewels of the Pharaohs' by Cyril Aldred is in perfect condition, except minor defects on the jacket (see picture 5). Published in 1971 with 193 illustrations (100 in colour).

Let me know if you are interested,

Best,

Didier

_._,_._,_

 

Hello,

Hello Donna,

This is by far the first one, and I am French. However, the second one can presumably be cleaned with no risk with a 10% solution of EDTA tetrasodium salt. Thus, I would recommend to buy the cheapest one! Also with your post I am noticying that your interests are not only in antiquities. So do I, unfortunately. I am enclosing a very rare document, which is in blank to remove a Bastille prisoner. This document was signed by a secretary of king Louis XV (French documents with an original signature of the King are extremely rare).

All the best,

Didier

Hello everybody,

I just put on hold this very rare silver amulet of Seth. As any collector of Egyptian antiquities knows silver was more valuable than gold in Ancient Egypt. Attached is my record with pictures. This one was not cheap, but considering the large size (H 5.8 cm) this was a very decent deal.

All the best,

Didier

Silver_Seth.docx

Hello everybody,

Hello everybody,

Thanks Donna for your detailed description of the grotesque heads. I bought one in 2011 from Arte Primitivo in NYC. H 7.6, W 5.0, D 6.0 cm.

All the best,

Didier

Hello everybody,

I am not Bill Gates and I never buy at rocket prices.

Below is a beautiful Tanagra artefact in almost perfect condition, left thumb broken (H 21 cm), which I bought for nuts (€650) in a recent web sale. It was misdescribed. I very much enjoy poor descriptions. 

All the best,

Didier

Hello everybody,

I am presently selling many Egyptian amulets of my collection, which are duplicates when not triplicates. They are all described in the attachment and will be provided with detailed COA and origin. Their reserve price is indicated in every document. 

Please contact me if you are interested.

Best regards,

Didier

Bes_amulet.doc Openwork_Wedjat_amulet.doc Thoth_amulet.doc Crocodile_amulet.doc Tiny_Pataikos.docx Scarab with the cartouche of Thutmose III.doc Hare_amulet.doc Bronze_Orant_or_Osiris_amulet.doc Bastet_or_Sekhmet amulet.doc Taweret_amulet.doc Red_crown_amulet.doc Small_Pataikos_amulet.doc Anubis_amulet.doc Uraeus_amulet.doc Blue_Nut_amulet.docx Button_stamp_seal_scaraboid_for_Thutmose_III.doc Bronze_Nefertem.docx Tiny_scarab.docx Faience_orant.doc Scarab_with_Bes.doc

Hi Antwerpen2306,

Thank you for your message.

1. First I was quite surprized to get a single demand of downloads in this blog. I posted the very same advertisement on the ancientartefacts group (https://groups.io/g/AncientArtifacts and my slides were at least 30 times downloaded.

2. I perfectly know that the world of Egyptian amulets is not an easy one. Indeed, it took me 4 years part time (since I did retire) to complete the blog because I extensively browsed the most important websites worldwide (Le Louvre, the BM, the MET, the Brooklyn Museum, the Torino and Berlin ones, etc.) I repeatedly visited all these Museums, including the Cairo one, and much more.

3. I also know that Egyptian amulets varied extensively with Dynastic times. I also took care of that in my blog. I am enclosing an example with only god Bes. I am certainly not god, but f you can find better on line with colored pictures and references, please let me know.

Best,

Didier

Bes_amulets.pptx

Hello everybody,

Hello everybody,

I just finished my blog on Egyptian amulets. Unfortunately a friend who was ready to put the blog on line got a cancer and I am totally unable to do that. It does contain 3 Powerpoints :

First one is a Collecting guide, which I am attaching.

Second one is a Generalities section on materials, colors, help for datation, etc. I am attaching the docx index, which refers to the slide numbers.

Third one is what I called 'The most complete amulets of Ancient Egypt' where I am describing more than 500 different types of amulets. I am attaching the index, a docx document, which also refers to the slide numbers. Overall there are about 2,000 amulets reproduced in colour, approximately scaled and classified for each type by Periods so that it is easy to see the evolution of styles throughout Dynastic times. 

I cannot attach the second and third Powerpoints as they are very heavy (respectively 128 Mo and 1.3 Go).  

In any case, for those who are interested, send me an email at didier.attaix@gmail.com so that I will send you WeTransfer links to download these Powerpoints.

All the best,

Didier

Collecting guide.pptx Index_Complete.docx Index_Generalities.docx