An Egyptian wood shrew coffin

An Egyptian wood shrew coffin Late Period, circa 664-332 B.C. 6.3cm high, 7.6cm wide Footnotes: Provenance: Resandro collection, Europe, acquired prior to 1987 (listed on a 1987 loan document) (R-686 (HP 31)). Published: I. Grimm-Stadelmann (ed.), Aesthetic Glimpses, Masterpieces of Ancient Egyptian Art, The Resandro Collection, Munich, 2012, p.213, no. R-686. The practice of mummifying animals became widespread in Egypt from the Third Intermediate Period onwards. Visitors to temples or cultic sites would dedicate these animal mummies to the respective deities, and wood coffins, some simple, some more elaborate, were often used to hold these mummified remains. The shrews that adorn the top of this example reflect that the remains of these animals were once housed in the cavity within. The shrew 'was the animal manifestation of the form of Horus called the 'blind and seeing god''; living underground, its re-emergence into the sun was a metaphor for rebirth and resurrection (C. Andrews, Amulets of Ancient Egypt, London, 1994, p. 32). This form of Horus was worshipped at Letopolis in the Delta. For another shrew coffin, with the mummified remains still in situ, see the Brooklyn Museum, acc. no. 37.1362Ea-c; the Brooklyn example retains the brightly painted original surface, which our example also once had, as evinced by the small patch of gilding which survives on the ear of one of the shrews (traces of the original gesso layer also remain). Brooklyn Museum also holds a crocodile coffin, acc. no. 37.1367E, of the same dimiutive size as the present lot, and a scarab coffin, acc. no. 37.1368Ea-c. This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: * * VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing