Notable sale: The Hultmark Horus

In 2025, David Aaron debuted at TEFAF New York art fair and notably sold a finely modelled bronze Egyptian figure of a falcon, which was previously in the collection of renowned Swedish art historian and collector, Dr. Emil Hultmark.

The bronze falcon of Horus in traditional standing pose makes a striking silhouette: with two firmly planted legs counterbalanced by an elegant V-shaped tail, wings folded across the back which rises smoothly to the bird’s proud head. The falcon’s feathers were individually chased onto its finished and polished surface by hand, using a fine-pointed iron tool. The intricacy of this work, with care taken to individuate the different kinds of flight feathers present in a real bird’s wings and tail, would have required a large investment of time and skill.

The Hultmark Horus, 663-525 B.C., Saitic Period, Egypt , Bronze, Image: Courtesy David Aaron

The pointed tip of the beak and the sharp, viciously curved claws on the feet are also painstakingly modelled. The combination of the detailed naturalistic treatment of the subject, and the technical skills required for lost-wax casting a piece of this kind in a single piece, mark this falcon as a fine example of Late Period metalwork. Unusually, the falcon’s legs were modelled together with the body – the majority of Late Period bronze falcons of this kind were produced in two pieces and attached after the casting stage – an innovative production process that would have streamlined the piece’s production.

The Hultmark Horus, 663-525 B.C., Saitic Period, Egypt , Bronze, Image: Courtesy David Aaron

The statuette was hollow cast, with an opening under the base of the falcon’s body. The straight sides of this aperture suggest that it originally had a fitted bronze cover, which would have enclosed the statuette’s sacred contents. Bronze falcons of this kind often held the mummified falcons given as offerings at animal necropoleis and sacred sites throughout ancient Egypt.

From the Late Period onwards, the sacred animals of the gods became a focus for cult practices and were worshipped as living incarnations of the gods on earth. They were often kept in temple precincts – entire complexes of buildings dedicated to Horus falcons have been found at Saqqara, Buto, Abydos, and Kom Ombo. Pilgrims who visited these temples would purchase falcons to be mummified and presented as signs of devotion to the god, or when seeking a particular blessing. Their offerings would then be interred in the catacombs as an eternal prayer to Horus. This bronze falcon is, therefore, a material record of an ancient pilgrim’s prayer.

Many museum collections feature bronze falcon statuettes like this one, including the Louvre in Paris, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the Staatliche Museen in Berlin, the Brooklyn Museum, and the British Museum, London.

Falcon statuette/sarcophagus, 664-332 B.C., Late Period, Egypt, Bronze, H: 23 cm, L: 23.3 cm, Musée du Louvre, Paris, © 2014 Musée du Louvre, Dist. GrandPalaisRmn / Benjamin Soligny

Horus the god

Falcons were linked to the god Horus, the son of Isis and Osiris. One of the most important gods in the Egyptian pantheon, Horus was worshipped from at least late prehistoric Egypt until the Ptolemaic and Roman Periods. His battle to regain his throne from his uncle Seth, who had killed his father Osiris, was seen as symbolic of the pharaoh’s victory over Egypt’s enemies.

orus was also seen as the uniter of the Two Kingdoms of Egypt and the maintainer of order. He therefore represented the concept of balance, which was highly valued by ancient Egyptians. As such, he was associated with kingship and the pharaoh came to be viewed as a representation of Horus on earth.

One of Horus’s names translates as ‘Horus the Great’ or ‘Horus the Elder’. This is written in hieroglyphs as ḥr.w, or ‘falcon’, 𓅃, and is also translated as ‘the distant one’ or ‘one who is above, over’. Horus was often depicted as a falcon or a man with a falcon’s head. The falcon, therefore, became a symbol of divine kingship, and is often depicted wearing the Double Crown of Egypt (seen in the example below) or the sun disc in statues and paintings. Horus was also god of the sky, with the sun as his right eye and the moon as his left. In his falcon form, Horus flew the sun and moon in their journey across the sky, with outspread wings protecting the earth below. The Eye of Horus, or wedjat-eye, was a powerful apotropaic symbol for ancient Egyptians.

Horus Falcon-Form Coffin, 664–30 B.C.E.. Bronze, gold, 11 3/4 x 2 3/4 x 11 1/2 in. (29.8 x 7 x 29.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 05.394. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum (Gavin Ashworth, photographer))

From the collection of art historian Dr. Emil Hultmark

This fine falcon was previously in the collection of Dr. Emil Hultmark (1872-1943), a Swedish art historian, collector, donor, and patron of the arts. Trained under art historians Heinrich Wöfflin and Adolph Goldschmidt, Hultmark’s doctoral thesis on Swedish painter Carl Frederik von Breda and its accompanying catalogue remains one of the seminal texts on Von Breda’s oeuvre. Hultmark also compiled a formidably large archive of Swedish artists and craftsmen, and a library covering the entire history of Swedish art. His personal collection, comprising paintings, sculptures, engravings, furniture, textiles, silver, bronzes, and faience, set out to encompass the full history of art in every country of the world, from ancient times to his lifetime.

Emil Hultmarks Samling, Kungliga Akademien för de fria konsterna, Stockholm, 1942, no. 596, p. 73, pl. 34.

This falcon features in a 1936 article about Hultmark’s Stockholm residence, photographed (below) on a dressing table surrounded by a selection of other Egyptian sculptures. It was also exhibited at the 1942 showcase of ‘Emil Hultmarks Samling’ by the Kungliga Akademien för de fria konsterna (Royal Academy of Fine Arts) in Stockholm. This exhibition garnered significant attention for the exceptional range of ancient artefacts and artwork gathered by Hultmark.

Photograph featuring the Horus from Maj Sterner, ‘Fil. dr. och fru Emil Hultmarks hem. Birger Jarlsgatan 32, Stockholm’, Svenska Hem I Ord Och Bilder, ed. Stig M H-son Björkman (1936), p. 176.

Hultmark’s legacy as both a scholar and a collector remains important today. One of the co-founders of the Kinaklubben (China Club) in Stockholm in the 1920s, alongside Carl Kempe and the Crown Prince Gustav Adolf, he was also an important patron of Swedish artists. His generous donations to the Östasiatiska Museet, Stockholm, and the Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, allowed them to expand their collections. He also made significant donations to further the work of the Royal Academy of Arts and the Swedish Institute. Works from Hultmark’s collection have appeared in major international auctions, including a sale dedicated to Hultmark’s Chinese pieces held by Sotheby’s, London, on 28 November 2018. Earlier sales also included selections from Hultmark’s Song and Ming dynasty works. Hultmark’s private archive and acquisitions continue to circulate in scholarly and collecting circles, with items from his collection finding homes in international museums and respected private collections, reflecting the in-depth knowledge and understanding that his collection was founded upon.

This fine example of a bronze Horus sold to a private collector at TEFAF New York art fair in 2025. David Aaron will once again exhibit at TEFAF New York in 2026 and can be found at stand 212.

To discover more pieces of antiquity from David Aaron visit our artworks page here: www.davidaaron.com/artworks

The Hultmark Horus, 663-525 B.C., Saitic Period, Egypt , Bronze, Image: Courtesy David Aaron

The Hultmark Horus at TEFAF New York 2025. Image: Courtesy of David Aaron, photographed by Jitske Nap