EGYPTIAN BLUE ENAMEL BREASTPLATE
New Kingdom, 19th dynasty, ca. 1321 - 1186 BC
height cm 13; length cm 15; wide max 1,5

On the main side are depicted the solar boat and two seated gods, Isis and her sister Nephtid. The two goddesses are in adoration before the god Khepri and witness his birth. In origin, inside the cavity, housed the beetle. On the opposite side, the representation of Anubis, Osiris and Horus, with their names in hieroglyphic. Among the funerary and magic protection productions, the pectoral plates are quite rare. Originally they were worn on the breastplate, at heart level. Their use is attested in the New Kingdom and their function is described in the XXVI Chapter of the Book of the Dead. Published: E. Bresciani, Dall'Egitto del Nuovo Regno un pettorale di fayence inedito, Numismatica e Antichità classiche, Vol. XXXIV, 2005, p. 11. Provenance: Monte Carlo, private collection built up in the 60s and 90s.