Description: A fragmentary inky-blue flat-backed faience Bes amulet showing Bes playing a round circular drum, tambourine, or possibly cymbals, broken at the waist with the legs lost. A well-modelled amulet with good detail and a nice example. A chip to the top of the head which may reflect loss of a suspension loop.
Size: 19 mm/0.7 in. high
Culture: Egyptian
Date: New Kingdom, 18th Dynasty, Amarna Period, c. 1353-1323 B.C.
Provenance: Ex Horatio and Patsy Melas Collection, Alexandria, Egypt, acquired before 1967. Thence by descent, moved to Switzerland (1967-1989) and then London (1989-present).
Background: The Horatio & Patsy Melas Collection was formed in Alexandria, Egypt, during the first half of the 20th Century. Horatio Melas came from a family of Greek merchants who moved to Alexandria in 1904. There he met his wife Patsy and they married in 1960. In 1967 the family relocated to Switzerland, taking the collection with them. There it remained until 1989, when their son Kyros Melas moved to London. Kyros worked in the City as a Private Equities trader and continued to curate the collection, occasionally adding to it until the late 1990s.
