A canopic jar of tapering form carved from cream-coloured calcite alabaster, with a rounded rim leading to the wooden lid in the image of a jackal’s head. The front of the jar is incised with a hieroglyphic inscription referring to the jackal-headed Duamutef, one of the four sons of Horus. The lid is painted and stuccoed with fine detail – the darker ruff on the jackal’s neck is painted in blue-black, and the facial features of the thin canine eyes, nose and philtrum, are also picked out in polychrome.

Canopic jars were intended to hold the viscera of a mummified person, with each jar dedicated to a particular organ and inscribed with prayers to the gods for protection. The jars would have been kept in their own chest when placed in the tomb. The earliest canopic jars, with plain lids, date to the Old Kingdom (c. 2575–c. 2130 BC), with sculpted human heads introduced as lids during the Middle Kingdom (c. 1938–c. 1630 BC). From the 19th Dynasty until the end of the New Kingdom (1539–1075 BC), sets of canopic jars represented the four sons of the god Horus (jackal-headed Duamutef, falcon-headed Qebehsenuef, human-headed Imsety, and baboon-headed Hapy) and the four cardinal directions. Duamutef was the god who protected the stomach of the deceased. Duamutef translates to ‘He who adores his mother’, or ‘adoring his motherland’, as injuries to the torso and stomach were the most common cause of death in war. Duamutef was himself protected by the goddess Neith, and was aligned with the east. Three other canopic jar lids, representing the other three sons of Horus, from the Reinhold Holtermann collection are now in the collection of the Medelhavsmuseet, Stockholm: Qebehsenuef, MME 1969:025; Imsety, MME 1969:020; and Hapi, MME 1969:025.

Published

Klassiska, Stockholms Auktionsverk, Stockholm, Spring 2020, lot 140

Provenance

Previously in the Private Collection of Reinhold Holtermann (1899-1960), Stockholm, acquired in the 1920s, inventory number H18.
Thence by descent to Mr Holtermann (1940-2023).
Sold at: Klassiska, Stockholms Auktionsverk, Stockholm, Spring 2020, lot 140, consigned by the above.
Private Collection, Stockholm, acquired from the above sale.
IADAA Certificate, this item has been checked against the Interpol database.

Note on the Provenance

Reinhold Holtermann (1899-1960) was born on 20 October 1899 in Stockholm to parents Oscar Holtermann, a cabinet chamberlain, and Countess Maud von Rosen. He graduated from Norra Latin in 1918 and went on to study painting at Althins målarskola, Stockholm (1918-1919), then with Oscar Björk at the Academy of Fine Arts (1920-1925), and then with Cubist painter Jean Marchand in Paris (1930-1931). Holtermann travelled around Europe before holding his first solo exhibition at the Galerie Moderne, Stockholm, (1938), followed by Konsthallen, Gävle (1941), Gummessons, Stockholm (1942), and Lila Galleriet, Stockholm (1947). He also participated in many group exhibitions in Sweden and the Netherlands. Holtermann has recently been acclaimed as one of the pioneers of Swedish experimental film. Holtermann married the painter Maja Bergh in 1924, and married his second wife, Doris (Dolly) Norma Frances in 1938.

Holtermann had a large collection of Egyptian antiquities which he acquired during the 1920s, most probably between 1925 and 1930 when not studying. Holtermann was an amateur Egyptologist, and personally participated in excavations. Upon his death, the majority of his collection was donated to the Medelhavsmuseet, Stockholm, which now holds over 700 items from Holtermann.

Canopic Jar with Lid