CULTURE / REGION OF ORIGIN: Egypt.
DATE: Probably Late Period, 712-332 BCE.
DIMENSIONS: 3.8 cm wide, 2.5 cm tall (1.5 in. wide, 1.0 in tall).

DESCRIPTION: Intact. A rare example of a skullcap for a bronze or wood statuette of the god Ptah, made from a blue “frit” or glassy faience-like vitreous material, appearing blue-grey on the outer surface. A tiny chip at the rear. Some discoloration (encrustation?) of the upper surface. The recessed inner area shows a glass-like surface.

PROVENANCE: Formerly in the collection of Madame Olga & Monsieur Vincent Diniacopoulos, formerly of Montreal, Canada. The collection assembled 1910-1932 & 1954, part auctioned June, 2001.

COMPARISONS: Stern & Schlick-Nolte, Early Glass of the Ancient World, 1600 BC - AD 50, Ernesto Wolf Collection, No. 26, for a small Egyptian male head, probably 10th-7th Century BC, made of "vitreous material" remarkably similar in color and texture. Also, Lacovara, Trope & D'Auria, editors, The Collector's Eye: Masterpieces of Egyptian Art from the Thalassic Collection, Ltd., Michael C. Carlos Museum, Atlanta, 2001, #29 for a large skullcap of Ptah in bright blue faience, as an inlay, dated to the New Kingdom.