With photo.
AN Egyptian relic dug up in a Derby back garden has been valued at £10,000.
The owner of the item, a stone bust shaped as a pharaoh, appeared on the BBC’s Antiques Roadshow where the item was valued by antiques expert Henry Sandon.
Asked how he came across the item, the owner, who did not want to be identified, said: “I was doing some gardening when I hit it with my spade.
“I’m just glad I didn’t do too much damage to it.”
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He did not know how the relic came to be in his back garden.
Mr Sandon said the bust originated from around 1700BC to 1750BC.
He added: “It is absolutely beautifully made. It possibly did have a beard and a nose and over time these have fallen off.
5 comments:
Great story. Verification being given by the British Museum adds credibility. I will add that for a Pharaoh, there is no Uraeus, but the article most likely meant "shaped like a statue from the Pharonic period", rather than "shaped as a Pharaoh". It looks like it may have been sculpted from sandstone and reminds me of the Middle Kingdom statues. Very nice indeed. I missed the show (typically) but will look out for it in the future,
Stuart
Reminds me of XIIIth dynasty's officials statues (vizier Ankhu etc.).
I wonder how it ended up there...
Lovely! If I could only find something like that I'd even go out and dig in my yard. Allergies and snakes and all. I agree, it doesn't have a Uraes, therefore probably isn't a Pharaoh. But who cares! It's Ancient Egyptian and beautiful.
Andie,
Cool. First a canopic jar in Dorset in February and now this. Check your gardens!
I suspect that there are quite a few AE items on shelves in old UK estates.
RHB
Rhio, my family used to live in a house on two and a half acres of land not far from Chester (Roman town) and in all their years of gardening they never dug up even the smallest piece of Roman pottery! Being somewhat knowledable about Roman pottery at the time that was something of a disapointment! Some people have all the luck :-).
Stuart, it's not a show that I watch but I'm very sad that I missed that one!
You really do have to wonder how something that distinctive ended up in the vegetable patch!
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