A Royal Egyptian Faience Floral Rosette, New Kingdom, ca. 1295 - 1190 BCE

Rosettes, such as this lovely example, have a long history in Egyptian decorative architecture and were popular at most palace sites.  Constructed entirely of faience, its distinctive eight white petals depict a flowering daisy, that contrasts wonderfully against a pale grey background.  Originally, a gold nail was inserted through the central hole to secure it to a palace wall, thus forming decorative borders and ornamental bands.  These rosettes give us a vivid idea of Egyptian palace décor, and what it might have been like to walk those corridors more than three thousand years ago.  

cf. F. Dunn Friedman (ed.), Gifts of the Nile. Ancient Egyptian Faience, (Providence 1998), pp.87 & 197, nos. 55-56.

Dimensions: Diameter: 1 inch (2.5 cm)

Condition:  Multiple restorations, most recent 2017.

Provenance: The John J. Slocum private Collection of Ancient Art: John Slocum (1914-1997) collected most of his antiquities while serving as US cultural attaché to Egypt in the 1960s. Later, he served as Assistant to the Director of The Smithsonian, was appointed by President Reagan to the Presidential Cultural Property Advisory Committee, and was a Trustee Emeritus of the Archaeological Institute of America. He was a well-respected scholar/collector, whose medieval crusader coins were sold in a single-owner sale at Sotheby’s, London in 1997.