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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1991.35
Title
Winged Scarab
Classification
Sculpture
Work Type
sculpture
Date
c 323-31 BCE
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Africa, Egypt (Ancient)
Period
Ptolemaic period
Culture
Egyptian
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/289015

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Faience
Dimensions
H. 7.6 x W. 26 cm (3 x 10 1/4 in.)

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Schimmel Foundation, Inc.
Accession Year
1991
Object Number
1991.35
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
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Descriptions

Description
This Romano-Egyptian mummy amulet or ornament consists of three pieces: the scarab in the center and each wing. The piece is supported on a modern steel mounting plate pierced by threaded screw hole in center.

The scarab is oval with animal in relief in black faience against a light blue background. A pair of small holes pierces object on either side of the scarab's head. Two sets of three symetrical holes each pierce the side of the scarab plaque. The wings consist of eight large feathers on the left wing and seven large feathers on the right wing with nine smaller feathers on the left wing and ten smaller feathers on the right wing. These wings emerge from sockets marked by relief scales. The blue relief scales are decorated with black dots. There are four pairs of holes piercing the wings: one pair at the tip, another farther down on the curve of the wing, a third pair through the outermost smaller feathers, and a fourth pair at the outer edge of the area scales. On the left wing this pair of holes is placed horizontially. On the right wing, however, this pair is placed vertically and close together. Three holes at both corners and in the middle appear on the straight inner edge of each wing. There is a symetrical pair of holes and the bottom of the scarab plaque piercing the blue glazed background between the tips of the hind legs and the ends of the carapace. The series of holes may have been intended for mounting on a mummy cartonage.

Publication History

  • Oscar White Muscarella, ed., Ancient Art: The Norbert Schimmel Collection, Verlag Philipp von Zabern (Mainz, 1974), no. 230.
  • Jürgen Stettgast, Von Troja bis Amarna: The Norbert Schimmel Collection, New York, exh. cat., Verlag Philipp von Zabern (Mainz, 1978), no. 273.

Exhibition History

  • Von Troja bis Amarna: The Norbert Schimmel Collection, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Ägyptisches Museum und Papyrussammlung, 03/18/1978 - 05/28/1978; Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, 06/24/1978 - 09/03/1978; Archäologische Staatssammlung München - Museum für Vor- und Frühgeschichte, 09/28/1978 - 01/06/1979
  • The Persistence of Memory: Continuity and Change in American Cultures, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 07/29/1995 - 05/13/2001
  • Objects for a Kunstkammer: Early European Collecting, 1550-1700, Harvard University Art Museums, Busch-Reisinger Museum, 12/10/2005 - 11/19/2006
  • Tangible Things, The Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments, Cambridge, 01/24/2011 - 05/29/2011

Verification Level

This record was created from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator; it may be inaccurate or incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu