Egypt, Late Dynastic Period, 26th to 31st Dynasty, ca. 664 to 332 BCE. An incredible and stylish matched pair of hand-carved wooden legs - used to support chair bodies or those of other large pieces of furniture - covered in gesso and painted with a myriad of citrine, vermilion, jet-black hues. Each leg presents with a stocky rectangular body surmounted by the head of a lion, a pair of delineated paws atop an integral plinth, and all above a thick foot portion. A pair of square mortises is present on the interior side and verso of each leg, with a fragment of an original stretcher bar still retained within one rear mortise. The amusing leonine faces boast recessed eyes and raised brows, broad snouts, puffy jowls with painted whiskers and red lips, protruding cheek bones, and perky ears, all framed around a red-and-black mane. The bodies are further decorated with three columns of red and black scales alternating between slender orange scales. Size of each: 3.125" W x 14.8" H (7.9 cm x 37.6 cm); 15.4" H (39.1 cm) on included custom stand.

For a stylistically similar example made from faience, please see The Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession number 1977.170: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/552004

Provenance: private Pennsylvania, USA collection; ex-William Ashby estate collection, New Jersey, USA, acquired 1974 to 1990

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#149011

Both legs have losses to areas of lower foot, lion feet, bodies, and areas of head as shown. Nicks and abrasions to heads, bodies, feet, and bases, with chipping and light fading to original gesso and pigmentation commensurate with age, and several stable fissures that do not compromise the integrity of the legs. Nice earthen deposits and great traces of original pigmentation throughout, and fine patina to unpainted areas.