Egyptian Green-Glazed Steatite Scaraboid Surmounted by a Crouching Figure

New Kingdom, 18th–19th Dynasty, ca. 1550 to1200 B.C.

A rare unusual and desirable seal-amulet in the scaraboid form; an oval domed plinth without the anatomical detailing of the true scarab beetle; surmounted by a small figure carved fully in the round, shown crouched or kneeling with the head turned to the side and framed by a striated echelon wig, the body compact against the back of the plinth in the manner of a devotee or protective deity. The rich turquoise-green alkaline glaze is heightened throughout with crisp manganese-black lines that pick out the wig, facial profile, and contours of the folded body, in the palette and technique of the finest Thutmoside and Ramesside workshops. The flat oval underside is deeply engraved with a scarab-beetle device ; the sacred image of Khepri, self-generating solar creator; flanked by symmetrical protective elements including paired uraei with curled tails and ankh signs of life, a stock New Kingdom apotropaic composition well paralleled in Petrie's Historical Scarabs (pls. XXVI–XXVII). The piece is pierced longitudinally for stringing as originally intended and preserves its glaze across most surfaces, with the soft mottling and rust-brown iron freckling that come naturally to aged steatite. Comparable New Kingdom figured scaraboids are preserved in the Egyptian collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (cf. the human-headed scarab of Dynasty 19, 30.8.622, and the Ramesside scaraboid 553917), where the substitution of a small figure for the beetle back is treated as a distinct amuletic category of considerable rarity.

Size13 mm in length (1/2 in.), intact with only minor glaze wear to the highest points and light earthen deposits within the recesses; no restoration observed.

Provenance: Art Market, New York, 1980s–2000s.