Code: 1320
Description: A good-sized bronze ibis, wings folded at the side, with integral tang for insertion in a base. The head and feet lost, but with an attractive deep red patina, and incised linear decoration representing tail feathers.
Size: 87 mm/3.4 ins. high
Culture: Egyptian
Date: Late Period, c. 664-30 B.C.
Provenance: From the collection of Olga and Vincent Diniacopoulos, Montreal, formed between 1910-1954.
Background: Olga (1906-2000) and Vincent Diniacopoulos (1886-1967) were remarkable husband and wife collectors who built up an extensive and truly remarkable collection of antiquities that filled their Montreal home. The existence of this fabulous collection was kept secret for decades, only in 1998 when Olga realised that she was nearing the end of her life, was the existence of the collection revealed to close friends. Their love of antiquity was so great that even cookie jars in the kitchen were full of Roman coins and at least on one occasion Olga paid Vincent’s medical bills using 2,500-year-old silver tetradrachms. Much of the collection was dispersed at auction, some was bought by the Quebec Government, a large number of pieces are housed at Concordia University, Montreal, others are on display at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. Many of the Egyptian objects in the collection were acquired in Egypt during the 1920s-1930s, with several originating from the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities in Cairo when it sold surplus pieces.
A wonderful opportunity to acquire an object from a most remarkable collection.
