Title: silver oyster-shell amulet
VADS Collection: Artworld: Sainsbury Centre for
Description: Silver wedja amulet in the shape of an oyster-shell, made in two halves from hammering sheet silver into a mould and then soldering the two together. Inscribed with the nomen of Senwosret in a cartouche at the centre of the amulet. At the top of the amulet there is a ribbed ring for suspension.
The amulet was worn to bring health and well-being to the wearer.
Title: faience cosmetic jar in the form of a hedgehog
VADS Collection: Artworld:
Description: Small faience jar to hold scented oil or perfume, in the style of the Greek aryballos. Formed in the shape of a hedgehog, with a rounded body, a criss-cross pattern covering the body to represent spines and a large ruff of spines framing the face. On the top of the hedgehog's back is a short cylindrical neck with circular hole and a square handle.
The jar would have been covered with a turquoise glaze, traces of which still remain.
Description Source: Birch, S.
Title: wooden stick shabti
VADS Collection: Artworld: Sainsbury Centre for Vi
Description: Wooden 'stick' shabti. Crudely carved in the form of a man with rough representations of head, arms and feet. Facial features are roughly carved with eyes and eyebrows painted on in black. There is an inscription in hieratic on the front and sides of the body in black ink.
Title: statuette of naked female on bed
VADS Collection: Artworld: Sainsbury Cent
Description: Terracotta statuette of a naked woman lying on a bed, moulded in high relief. The woman lies on her back, with her right arm resting on her chest and her left arm under a small child lying at her side. The bed has four legs and was decorated with stripes of red paint on blue. There are also traces of red and blue paint on the bodies of both mother and child.
Description Source: Birch, S. 1880. Catalogue of the Collection of Egyptian Antiquities at Alnwick Castle,
Title: funerary statuette of Ptah-Sokar-Osiris
VADS Collection: Artworld: Sainsbu
Description: Elaborately painted wooden funerary statuette of Ptah-Sokar-Osiris, standing on a wooden base.
Ptah-Sokar-Osiris is depicted as a mummiform man and wears a blue and yellow striped nemes headdress and wesekh collar. The face is gilded with facial features painted in black and white. The ears are large and naturalistic. Gilded hands are clenched and crossed on the chest; bracelets are painted on both wrists in black. The body is brightly painted in red, blue, green, white a
Title: funerary stela of Memu, Overseer of Boats
VADS Collection: Artworld: Sains
Description: Round-topped funerary stela.
The lunette has two udjat-eyes and two recumbent jackals. Below the lunette are four rows of hieroglyphs facing to the right, a hotep-di-nesw offering formula to Osiris and Wepwawet for Memu, the Overseer of Boats and his wife Ipepi. Below is a representation of Memu sitting on a bull-legged chair before an offering table and Ipepi kneeling on a mat before another offering table. To the right of the scene there is one column of hieroglyphs fac
Title: sole of a sandal
VADS Collection: Artworld: Sainsbury Centre for Visual Ar
Description: Sandal made by binding parallel bundles of rushes together with strips to form a flat surface and then edged to finish the sole. A circular hole can be seen to have been pushed between the fibres in order to secure the thong between the toes.
The sandal is in poor condition and is very fragile.
Title: Coptic manuscript
VADS Collection: Artworld: Sainsbury Centre for Visual A
Description: A page from a Coptic text of the Song of Moses, Exodus 15. The manuscript has a decorative chapter heading and initial letter. There are 18 horizontal lines of Coptic text, read from left to right. Above and to the right hand side of the Coptic text is a translation in 19 lines of Arabic.
The manuscript has a split where it has previously been folded in half and there is some slight discolouration.
Title: Amarna relief
VADS Collection: Artworld: Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts<
Description: Fragment of a sandstone relief carved in the distinctive artistic style of the Amarna Period.
The relief depicts the upper bodies of two men carved in sunk relief. Both men seem to be bending as if at work. Their bodies are painted red and traces of black paint can be seen on the wigs. Above their heads are the feet of two men, also painted red. There are traces of white paint on the background of the relief.
The men are shown in an unconventional stance, typical of ar
Title: turquoise faience amulet
VADS Collection: Artworld: Sainsbury Centre for V
Description: Rectangular amulet of turquoise faience.
On front is a sphinx wearing an ureaus, facing to the right with the prenomen of Tuthmosis III in a vertical cartouche before him. Above the sphinx are two hieroglyphs meaning 'the life of'. On reverse is the prenomen of Tuthmosis III in a vertical cartouche with an ureaus on either side. The other four sides are undecorated. The amulet is pierced along its length.
Description Source: Birch, S. 1880. Catalogue of the Col
Title: calcite statuette
VADS Collection: Artworld: Sainsbury Centre for Visual A
Description: Calcite statuette. The statuette has no distinct limbs or other bodily features but the narrowing of the shape implies the narrow waist and broad hips of a woman. The head of the statuette has small protruding ears and a pointed chin; the mouth is shown by a single incised line and the eyes are hollowed out and inlaid with a green stone, surrounded by black pigment.
Title: black-topped beaker
VADS Collection: Artworld: Sainsbury Centre for Visual
Description: Black-topped Nile silt ware beaker, constructed using the coil method and smoothed by hand. The distinctive red colour of the lower part of the exterior is due to a red iron oxide wash being applied to the beaker and then burnished. The upper part of the exterior and the interior of the beaker were blackened during the firing process.
Title: red and white snuff bottle
VADS Collection: Artworld: Sainsbury Centre for
Description: Inside-painted glass snuff bottle of flattened ovoid shape, with a cork and bone snuff spoon with mother-of-pearl stopper.
The main body of the snuff bottle is made of smokey glass with a uneven band of orange-red overlay around the rim and oval footrim. There are two orange-red frames on both the front and back and a carved orange-red 'handle' on both sides. The fan-shaped frame on the upper half of the front shows a mountain scene; below is a roughly rectangular frame s
Title: armorial plate
VADS Collection: Artworld: Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts
Description: Export ware plate, part of a Scottish armorial service.
Heavily potted porcelain oval plate with a narrow footring and flat unglazed base. The plate is decorated in deep underglaze blue with a diaper pattern around the rim and four floral sprays, each incorporating one of the Hundred Antiquities; for example, the floral spray above the armorial design incorporates scrolls. At the centre of the plate is a coat of arms with lion crest in coloured overglaze enamels and trace
Title: large camel statuette
VADS Collection: Artworld: Sainsbury Centre for Visu
Description: Hollow-moulded glazed light buff earthenware model of a saddled Bactarian camel standing four-square on a rectangular, flat self-base. The camel has a raised head, tilted slightly to one side with mouth wide open, two humps and a short tail curled around the hindquarters to the right. The body is covered in a rich, finely crazed chestnut-brown glaze; the mane and chest of the camel in a buff-coloured glaze.
Description Source: Legeza, I.L. 1972. Descriptive and Il
Title: astronomical clock
VADS Collection: Artworld: Sainsbury Centre for Visual
Description: Astronomical clock with carved wooden stand.
Title: Mandarin square
VADS Collection: Artworld: Sainsbury Centre for Visual Art
Description: Mandarin square of a civilian grade 4 official of the Jiaqing reign.
The rank badge made from a delicately woven square of silk. In the centre of the square stands a white pheasant on a rock among swirling waves, looking towards the sun. Below the waves are diagonal stripes of alternating gold, copper and silver thread. The pheasant is surrounded by symbols of good luck (such as the endless knot, lotus, wheel of law, conch shell, flaming pearl, five bats, swastika, fish a
