New Kingdom,19th-20th Dynasty, 1279-1077 BC. A glazed composition bifacial pectoral plaque with gilded frame; obverse with scene of Osiris and a priest facing an offering table in the form of the djed pillar within a segmented border; to the reverse, Anubis crouching beneath the eye of Horus; waisted upper edge pierced for suspension. 79 grams, 74mm (3"). Private collection, North London; acquired in the early 1990s. The pectoral would have been intended as a funerary piece due to the iconography on both sides. The standing male figure offering to Osiris wears the characteristic long pleated robes and heavy wig that were popular with the wealthy and aristocracy class during the reign of the Ramessid Pharaohs of the nineteenth and twentieth dynasties. Osiris was perceived as the Lord of the Underworld and protected those who came to him in the afterlife and, along with his wife the goddess Isis, promised resurrection for the deceased. Anubis was the guide who took the souls of the dead to the next world, as well as protect them from the dangerous supernatural creatures that tried to attack the soul on its journey. He was also the guardian of the necropolis and was invoked during the mummification process to protect the deceased. The Eye of Horus, or Wadjet, was possibly the most popular amulet in Egypt as it afforded protection to both the living and the dead and was associated with both Horus, the conquering victor of justice, and the sun god Ra, who was seen as the creator of the universe and upholder of order.

Very fine condition, usage wear.