Rare Amulet Type

430, Lot: 628. Estimate $200. Sold for $120. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Blue-green faience amulet of an oxe’s leg. Egypt, New Kingdom, 1550-1077 BC. Amulet in the form of a leg and hoof of an oxe. Pierced at top for suspension. Height: 6.0cm. Intact but with some pitting and sandy encrustation. A rare amulet type. Andrews p. 92, g.

Ex Carl Devries Collection (Classical Numismatic Group Electronic Auction 393, 15 March 2017), lot 749.

A Minnesota native, Dr. Devries (1921-2010) attended Wheaton College in Illinois, earning his B.A. in 1942, M.A. in 1944 and B.D. in 1947. He served as an instructor in Biblical Archaeology at Wheaton from 1945 until 1952, before leaving to pursue his Ph.D. in archaeology from the University of Chicago, which he attained in 1960.

As a member of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, Devries excavated in Egypt from the early 1950s until his retirement from the university in 1975, and was part of the Nubian Expedition from 1963 to 1964.

Devries acquired the bulk of his collection during the period he was employed in Egypt, purchasing many of his pieces from Sayyed Molattam, a noted antiquities dealer based in Luxor, where Devrie’s work with the Oriental Institute was based.