A WALL RELIEF FRAGMENT DEPICTING AN IBIS, PTOLEMAIC PERIOD

Egypt, 304-30 BC. The surface of the limestone is neatly carved in shallow relief to depict various hieroglyphs, including the sacred bird Ibis, a distinctive knife of the period, and several solar symbols.

Expert’s note: In ancient Egypt, the ibis held profound symbolic significance as the earthly embodiment of Thoth, god of wisdom, writing, and the moon. With its slender, curved beak and measured movements, the bird epitomized intellectual precision and divine knowledge. Thoth, often depicted with an ibis head, was revered as the scribe of the gods and the guardian of cosmic order (Maat).
The ibis thus came to represent reason, balance, and truth — the mental clarity that sustains both earthly and celestial harmony. Mummified ibises were dedicated to Thoth in vast numbers, especially at Hermopolis, his principal cult center. Their ritual preservation reflected a desire to secure divine favor and enlightenment. In funerary belief, Thoth and his ibis aspect were invoked to record the deeds of the dead and ensure just judgment. As such, the ibis became a timeless emblem of intellect, order, and the eternal pursuit of understanding.

Provenance: Collection of Philip Pearlstein, New York, and thence by descent. Philip Martin Pearlstein (1924–2022) was an American painter celebrated for his Modernist Realist nudes and regarded as a leading figure in figurative painting from the 1960s to the early 2000s. Born in Pittsburgh, Pearlstein showed an early aptitude for art. He studied at the Carnegie Institute of Technology, where he met his future wife, Dorothy Cantor, and fellow student Andy Warhol. After military service in World War II, he graduated in 1949 and subsequently moved together with Warhol to New York. Early in his career, he painted abstract-expressionist landscapes and worked for Life magazine, later receiving a Fulbright fellowship to study in Italy. By the late 1950s, he began attending figure drawing sessions at Mercedes Matter’s studio, leading in 1961 to his series of nude couples and, shortly thereafter, to direct-from-model paintings in a precise, realistic style. Pearlstein taught at Pratt Institute, Yale University, and Brooklyn College, where he was Distinguished Professor Emeritus. His meticulous exploration of the human form established him as a central figure in contemporary American realism.
Condition: Good condition overall, commensurate with age. Ancient wear and natural imperfections. Traces of weathering and erosion. Obvious losses and expected scattered chips. Remnants of old pigments and some areas with soil encrustations.

Weight: 3,449 g
Dimensions: Length 29.4 cm

Hieroglyphic inscriptions within royal courts functioned in the Ptolemaic period as both communicative and legitimizing instruments, asserting the continuity of pharaonic authority under Hellenistic rule. These epigraphic programs, executed on columns, jambs, and wall surfaces, systematically recorded titulary, divine epithets, and ritual sequences, frequently integrated with iconographic representations of deities and ceremonial acts. Ptolemaic hieroglyphs demonstrate a marked formal regularity, characterized by elongation of signs, precise proportionality, and adaptation to architectural parameters, reflecting a deliberate pursuit of monumental and ceremonial gravitas. While the integration of Hellenistic ornamental motifs, such as moldings and friezes, introduced visual hybridity, the grammatical and syntactic conventions of the hieroglyphic system were meticulously preserved.

Literature comparison:
Compare a related limestone relief with cartouches of Thutmose I, Egypt, Deir el-Bahari, New Kingdom, dated 1504-1492 BC, 31.5 cm high, in the British Museum, registration number EA1456. Compare a related limestone relief of a goose, Egypt, Late to Ptolemaic period, dated 400-30 BC, 12.3 cm long, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, object number 07.228.5.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 6 December 2001, lot 344
Price: USD 10,575 or approx. EUR 16,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An Egyptian limestone relief, Late to Ptolemaic period, 664-30 BC
Expert remark: Compare the related figurative subjects depicted. Note the similar size (26 cm).