Lot 148

Egyptian Ptolemaic Terracotta Bes Figure - Apotropaic Household Guardian

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Lot 148
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Egyptian Ptolemaic Terracotta Bes Figure - Apotropaic Household Guardian
Egyptian Ptolemaic Terracotta Bes Figure - Apotropaic Household Guardian
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Egyptian Ptolemaic Terracotta Bes Figure - Apotropaic Household Guardian

Estimate: $800 - $1,200

Starting Bid: $350

(0 Bids)
by Artemis Fine Arts
August 6, 2026 9:00 AM MDT
Live Auction
686 S. Taylor Avenue
Suite 108
Louisville, CO, US 80027

North Africa, Egypt, Ptolemaic period, ca. 305–30 BCE. A hand-modeled terracotta figure of Bes, the leonine dwarf-god whose grotesque features were thought to repel evil. Rendered in warm reddish-brown clay, the surviving upper body preserves the deity's broad bearded face, mane-like fringe, and stout torso, the modeling vigorous and tactile. Bes presided over the thresholds of daily life: childbirth, sleep, music, and the protection of the household, his fierce grimace meant to frighten away malevolent spirits and serpents. A suspension loop on the reverse indicates the figure was meant to be hung, perhaps worn or fixed within a domestic shrine as a perpetual ward. Mass-produced from molds and modeling alike during the Ptolemaic centuries, such figures carried the comforting presence of a beloved protector into ordinary homes across Hellenistic Egypt. Size: 1.96" W x 2.75" H x 1.58" D (5.0 cm W x 7.0 cm H x 4.0 cm D); on included custom stand: 4.75" H (12.1 cm H).

Bes was among the most widely beloved of Egyptian deities, a rare divinity depicted frontally (rather than in profile) to confront the viewer directly with his apotropaic stare. Neither a major temple god nor a figure of the funerary pantheon, he belonged to the intimate sphere of the home, invoked at moments of vulnerability: the birthing chamber, the marriage bed, the cradle. His worship endured for millennia and flourished anew under the Ptolemies, when Greek and Egyptian visual traditions intermingled. Terracotta Bes figures of this period, cheap to produce and easy to display, brought his protective power within reach of ordinary households throughout the Nile valley.

Provenance: Collection of Y. Kayvan, Los Angeles, California, USA, acquired from a Los Angeles, California, USA gallery acquisition dates range from the late 1990s to 2005

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Item # 203504

  • Condition: Fragmentary as shown with loss of lower body. Nicks and a few stable hairline fissures in areas. Nice remaining detail.

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Bid Increments
From: To: Increments:
$0 $299 $25
$300 $999 $50
$1,000 $1,999 $100
$2,000 $4,999 $250
$5,000 $9,999 $500
$10,000 $19,999 $1,000
$20,000 $49,999 $2,500
$50,000 $99,999 $5,000
$100,000 $199,999 $10,000
$200,000 + $20,000