The Enduring Legacy show in Pall Mall, London, includes bronze and pottery formerly in the Spencer-Churchill collection and acquired at the Northwick Park sale in 1965. Captain Edward G Spencer-Churchill (1876-1964) was an enthusiastic collector. He sold a large number of objects to the British Museum.
Awarded the Military Cross in the First World War, he was the son of Lord Edward Spencer-Churchill and Augusta Warburton, and also counted Sir Winston Churchill as his cousin.
Following the 1965 sale, the items have remained in the same collection ever since.
Show highlights
One of the highlights is an Etruscan bronze statuette of a child. It was first recorded in 1851 when it was in the collection of German-born diamond merchant and art collector Bram Hertz. It is offered for £20,000.
Etruscan bronze statuette of a child, early 5th century BC, £20,000.
Also in the exhibition are pieces from the collection of the late Michael Barrington (1935-2022) which includes a Corinthian bronze helmet c.6th century BC. Perhaps worn on the weary head of a soldier in ancient Greece, it was also once in the hands of Captain Spencer- Churchill and sold by him at auction in 1934. The gallery is accepting offers in excess of £200,000.
In tune with the Hellenic theme is an Attic white-ground lekythos (oil flask for bathing and funerary offerings). It dates from 440-430BC and is priced at £60,000.
Attic white-ground lekythos, 440- 430BC, £60,000.
The Egyptian section of the exhibition includes a bronze statuette of Ptah c.712-30BC offered at £24,000.
Evoking bygone ritual and mystical faith is a rock crystal amulet of Tauert, the protective Egyptian goddess of childbirth and fertility, available for £40,000. The hippo-shaped deity’s name is in recognition of her power. It means ‘the great (female) one’.
Greeks referred to her as Thoeris. A constellation in the form of Taweret can be seen in the Theban tombs of Tharwas (tomb 353 in Western Thebes) and Senenmut (tomb 232 in Western Thebes), and in the Osiris Chapel in Medinet Habu.
Egyptian rock crystal amulet of Tauert, c.1549-1292BC, £40,000.
Back to the front
If visits to the chiropractor are proving less than magical and you are open to reincarnation, perhaps you might consider employing a large djed pillar amulet from the collection of the writer, artist and Consul General of Egypt, Henry Salt (1780-1827). The djed pillar was created as a symbol of Osiris and later seen to be representative of his backbone.
In a number of Book of the Dead invocations, aspects of the symbol are used to restore the vertebrae of the deceased and reawaken them for rebirth into the afterlife. As such, they were most commonly used in funerary situations, where they were strung together and hung across the torsos of mummies. The djed pillar also served as a regular hieroglyphic symbol. It signifies the ancient Egyptian word for ‘stability’.
Egyptian djed pillar amulet, c.664- 332BC, £9000.
This particular amulet is from c.664-332 BC and is offered at £9000.
Forge and Lynch are former directors of the antiquities and Islamic and Indian art departments at Sotheby’s, London.
