LATE PERIOD, DYNASTY XXVI-XXX, 664-343 B.C.

The arch with four perforations on each side for attachment of the cross bars, surmounted by a recumbent baster in the form of a feline, her litter of two kittens before her, flanking a falcon, the handle with back to back busts of Hathor, the patron of music, wearing her characteristic wig, two uraei on either side of her head, a rectangular cobra modius above her hear where the arch joins the handle. Piece also comes with a custom made stand!

Provenance: Collected by Gustave Jequier (1868-1946)

For a similar sistrum see no. 35b in Capei and Markoe, eds, Mistress of the House, Mistress of Heaven, Women in Ancient Egypt.

R.D. Anderson, Catalogue of Egyptian Antiqu-2 (London, The British Museum Press, 1976)

Authenticated by Gayle Gibson, "Egyptologist", Royal Ontario Museum.

Galleria Delvecchio .… “is pleased to present a collection of Egyptian antiquities assembled by the celebrated Swiss Egyptologist Gustave Jéquier. Jéquier was born in 1868 in Neuchatel. He first studied in Paris under Gaston Maspero (1846-1916) and later went to Berlin before joining the de Morgan expedition to Persia, during which time he contributed to the discovery and decipherment of the code of Hammurabi. Gustave Jéquier was a giant in the field of Egyptology whose contributions are far too numerous to list here. He is best know for his association with the French Institute in Cairo which enabled him to engage in seminal research at the pyramid site of the Old Kingdom. He also completed the work begun at Abydos by his Swiss compatriot, [Henri] Eduard Naville (1844-1926). The two are considered to be Switzerland’s most preeminent Egyptologists. One of Jéquier’s most important discoveries was the 13th Dynasty pyramid of Khendjer. He wrote extensively on his history of Egyptian architecture, and published on philology and religion as well. Gustave Jéquier died in 1946 in the city in which he was born, and most of his collection was acquired by the University of Basel. The works of art presented here were given to a sibling who emigrated to the US in the late 1940’s; the collection later passed to their daughter, Jéquier’s niece.”