The “Evil Eye”
393, Lot: 773. Estimate $150.
Sold for $450. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee. |
|
Multicolored glass bead amulet. Egypt, Ptolemaic Period – Roman Period, 332 BC–1st century AD. Bead of layered blue, yellow and white glass in the shape of an “evil eye.” Central piercing.
Dimensions: 23x20mm. Intact.
From the Carl Devries Collection, with collector tag labeled “2/28/70 blue glass Sayyid 50” (50 in Arabic).
“Evil eye” amulets such as this served to protect the wearer against envious and/or malicious gazes. They were widely employed in antiquity, and the use of similar talismans continues in many parts of the world even today.
Acquired from Sayyid (Sayed) Molattam, a well-known, Luxor-based antiquities dealer from whom Devries purchased many of his pieces.
