Late Period-Ptolemaic Period, circa 500-31 B.C. An Egyptian or Graeco-Roman hardstone sphinx modelled in the round, sitting on a sub-rectangular base, with the body of a winged feline and head of a woman, her hair tied in a bun on the top of her head, stylised anatomical and facial detailing, circular socket to the top face behind the head; mounted on a custom-made antique wooden display base. Cf. a heavily worn steatite(?) winged sphinx, dated to 90-10 B.C., was found at Meroe and is now in The Museum of Fine Arts Boston, inv.no.22-1-609. 74 grams total, 50 mm long including base (2 in.). From Saqqara in the late 1960s. With John Cummings, Lincolnshire, UK, 1990s. Acquired 20 May 1997. Property of a South Oxfordshire private collector. Accompanied by an original invoice no.6469 dated 20 May 1997. Accompanied by a scholarly note by Egyptologist Paul Whelan. The sphinx amulet is quite rare in Egypt, for instance, the vast output and variety of amulets identified from the industrial-scale workshops at Naukratis do not include three-dimensional winged sphinxes, only their image impressed in scarabs, suggesting that this example may have been an import and/or once the possession of a Greek person in Egypt.