Egyptian bead necklace

New Kingdom, circa 1570-1069 BC  (amulet) and various periods

Length: 43 cm

Composed of multiple red, blue, turquoise and red-brown faience beads, re-strung in eight sections of four different coloured strands with a carnelian wedjet eye amulet, dating from the New Kingdom, at the centre. A carnelian scarab set in a modern gold mount forms the clasp. Spherical stone and faience beads separate each section.

Provenance: Provenance: Collection of Professor Richard Täckholm (1865-1937), Sweden, acquired early 20th century and thence by descent to Mrs Elsa Berglund, (1903-1979) .

Professor Täckholm began assembling his collection of ancient faience beads circa 1900, buying primarily in London and Paris.  Some were purchased from the Hilton-Price Collection, sold at Sotheby’s London in 1911, while others were gifts from friends, including Sir William Flinders Petrie.  The collection was later augmented by his relative Vivi Laurent- Täckholm, a Swedish Professor of Botany, who studied the flora of Egypt and lived in Cairo between 1923-1978. The beads were inherited from Professor Richard Täckholm by Mrs Elsa Berglund, (1903-1979).

£3,800