EGYPTIAN GOLD FISH AMULET
New Kingdom, Ca. 1550-1070 BC. A golden amulet in the shape of a tilapia fish. Fish pendants were worn as jewellery and were braided into the hair. A particularly famous story involving a fish pendant comes from the Westcar Papyrus, in which a female rower drops her fish pendant into the water and grieves until a magician splits the lake in half with magic to retrieve the item - a tale that highlights the precious nature of these pieces. The tilapia was a favourite in Egyptian art, and as an animal, it was revered for the way in which the females protect their young. By swallowing their own eggs in order to protect them until they were ready to hatch, these mother fish mimicked the goddess Nut swallowing the sun each evening before birthing it each dawn, and thus the tilapia became a symbol of regeneration. The item has undergone X-ray fluorescence analysis to confirm the metallurgical content suggesting its ancient origin and lack of modern trace elements. Size: L:32mm / W:15mm; 4.2g. Provenance: Property of a London Gentleman; formerly in a private UK collection formed in the the 1990s.

Estimate: GBP 750 - 1500