Source: Antiques Roadshow: "Late Period Egyptian Bronze Falcon"
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Antiquities appraiser Max Bernheimer examines a beautifully cast bronze falcon in this video produced for Antiques Roadshow. The falcon was sacred to the God Horace and the cast, created during ancient Egypt's Late Period, contains in the hollowed interior, remnants of a falcon mummy. The falcon sports exquisite details in its feathers and eyes, as well as hieroglyphic markings which would have named the dedicant-- the person who gave the piece. Despite the falcon's broken tail, its value is still quite high.
Download OnlyThis bronze falcon was created during ancient Egypt's Late Period, which began in 664 B.C. and ended in 304 B.C. One of the most intriguing features of this statue is its center. It is hollow for a very special reason: it originally housed a falcon mummy — that is, a falcon whose body had been preserved through the process of embalming and wrapping.
As the appraiser points out in the Roadshow video, the falcon "is not just an image of a bird. It was sacred to the god Horus" (ancient Egyptian god of the sun, usually represented as a man with the head of a falcon). Egyptians viewed certain animals — including cats, cows, crocodiles, baboons, bulls, and falcons — as beings that were inhabited by the spirit of a god. When these animals died, the Egyptians often preserved their bodies by mummifying them. The Egyptians believed that mummification would protect the animals' souls in the afterlife.
The linkage of a god to a specific animal reflected traits that both shared. The god Horus, whose name means "He who is on high," represented heavenly power; the falcon, which flies above the earth, provided a parallel to Horus within the animal world.
As the appraiser notes, the sculpture is beautifully cast, with exquisite details in its feathers and eyes. He also draws viewers' attention to the hieroglyphic markings on the base of the sculpture. Despite the falcon's broken tail, its value is still quite high.
GUEST: I inherited this from an uncle of mine, and I guess I was one of his favorite nephews and he was one of my favorite uncles. And he had this bird, and I looked at him all my life, and I was fascinated by him. I loved him. And when he passed away, he left it to me.
MAX BERHEIMER, Appraiser, Christie’s: That's great. Well, this is a very special piece. It's Egyptian, and it dates to what we call the Late Period, so that means it dates between 664 B.C. and 304 B.C. And it's not just an image of a bird. It was sacred to the god Horace, and as such, it was hollow cast, and it originally contained a falcon mummy. And if you look where the tail has broken off, you'll see that there's remnants of the mummy inside. You can also see when you flip this over that it's hollow and that the falcon mummy would have fit up into here.
There's also the remnants of a hieroglyphic inscription on the base which would have named the dedicant— the person who gave this piece.
It's beautifully cast. You have great details of the feathers here and the eye markings for the falcon. It's absolutely exquisite. Now, how did it get broken?
GUEST: Well, unfortunately, two of my sons apparently got the idea of playing with it back in 1962 or so. And it lasted all that time, and somehow or another, it fell off the shelf, and each of them went like that.
BERNHEIMER: Not me.
GUEST: Yeah, not me.
BERNHEIMER: Maybe they thought it was the Maltese falcon, and were trying to find treasure inside.
GUEST: I'm sure they probably did.
BERNHEIMER: If this were coming up at an auction I would have estimated it at about $12,000 to $18,000, and I would probably expect that it would sell for more.
GUEST: Really? Wow, that's unbelievable.
BERNHEIMER: It's really a special object.
GUEST: Oh, that's super. Well, I really appreciate that. What would it have been worth if it wasn't broken?
BERNHEIMER: It won't affect the value at all.
GUEST: Really?
BERNHEIMER: No, because it's a clean break. So it could be fixed, no problem.
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