Egypt, Late Dynastic Period, 26th Dynasty, ca. 664 to 525 BCE. A mold-formed pottery funerary pectoral in the shape of a pylon - the door or gateway into a temple. Covered in white pigment, the cornice-shaped overhang is decorated with vertical black and red stripes and is supported by a pair of border columns. Shown in low relief across the obverse is a pillar with the face of Hathor - goddess of love, music, beauty, and fertility - who bears outstretched ears, ovoid eyes, and intricately plaited bangs with spiraling tips, all beneath a squat crown flanked by a pair of horns. Two uraeus cobras wearing sun discs peer outward on the sides of Hathor's head, and the entire portraiture is bordered by 2 papyrus staffs with umbels surmounted by a cat, perhaps representing the cat goddess Bastet. Size: 3.5" W x 4.2" H (8.9 cm x 10.7 cm); 6" H (15.2 cm) on included custom stand.

Cf. a faience example from the New Kingdom to Third Intermediate Period at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession number 26.7.983

Provenance: private New York, New York, USA collection; ex-private Bedfordshire, UK collection, acquired in the 1990s

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#172086

Small loss to lower corner as shown. Abrasions, chips, softening to finer details, and fading to pigment commensurate with age, with light pitting in scattered areas. Small area of oxidation near upper corner suggests this was deposited next to an object containing iron. Great preservation to most detailing and pigments. Old inventory label on base of display stand.