A bust of an ancient Egyptian goddess, thought to have been a high-quality imitation, has been authenticated as a 2,500-year-old sculpture by one of the masters of the time.
An oddly shiny surface and unusually preserved nose led some to dismiss it as fake when it appeared at auction in Gloucestershire, UK, in 2022, after 40 years in a private collection.
In fact, the 24cm bust dates from the reign of Amasis II (570–526BC) and attributed to a sculptor known as the Greywacke Master after the stone from which it is made. It is thought to have come from the Temple of Neith at Sais, Egypt.
However, it was given a “nose job” by 18th century Italian craftsmen attempting to restore the badly damaged face and then painted over in later years. It was probably damaged by invading forces when Amasis II’s rule fell.
A section of stone from the back of the original statue was used to create the replacement nose so it would look as convincing as possible. It also underwent some “reworking” in ancient times as was common when sculptures were repurposed for new patrons or royalty.
It has been authenticated after more than a year of forensic investigation by David Aaron antiques dealership in Mayfair, west London, scientists, conservators and Egyptologists.
Iconoclasm
The team was able to plot its journey from Wadi Hammamat, where the stone was quarried, to damage through iconoclasm, the restoration practices of 18th-century Italy, to an appearance on the Parisian art market, and finally its misidentification in modern times.
As part of the professional “de-restoration” it was stripped back to the original, removing wax and pigment, then rebuilt using the fake nose as this was considered an important part of its story.
David Aaron said it should be considered one of the finest Egyptian sculptures in private hands today and has a value of £1.5 million ($2 million). The gallery describes the work as a “masterfully carved Egyptian statue, long misattributed and overlooked, now revealed to be a true masterpiece of Late Period sculpture”. It is a “striking head, elegantly carved, with serene features and a striated wig”, it said.
Provenance hunters
When it reappeared in 2022, its earliest known provenance was its appearance in a Christie's sale in 1978, when it was bought by a relative of the unnamed 2022 seller. It was even misattributed as a male bust because the overprinting and wax made the stone difficult to assess.
Its restoration, although technically impressive, is now long outdated and resulted in doubts being cast on the sculpture’s authenticity for a generation.
The team then managed to uncover earlier provenance dating from a 1923 Hotel Drouot sale in Paris, confirming the statue’s ancient origins. The head was photographed in the sales catalogue, complete with its new nose. Its uraeus, or serpent emblem in the headdress, was already missing.
The sale notes of the auctioneer, Andre Desvouges, record that it was sold for 2,000 francs to a Mr Miguel, who is thought to have been a prolific collector or dealer as he bought several items.
A reference to the bust was also found in the notes of Bernard Bothmer, the curator of the Brooklyn Museum in the 1950s, described as “lady or goddess with striated wig, black basalt, nose restored.”
Greywacke Master
Advanced material analysis, including optical petrography, SEM imaging and X-ray spectrometry confirmed the stone as Egyptian metagreywacke, highly prized in the Late Period for sculptures of royal and divine figures.
Further scholarship then linked the bust to a known collection of works, attributed to an ancient Egyptian workshop or artist known as the “Greywacke Master”.
“It is a sculpture that has many stories,” said Salomon Aaron, director of David Aaron. “One is of ancient Egypt, when master sculptors produced perfected forms of divinity and royalty, then the resulting iconoclasm that came from the end of the dynasty and a turbulent change of power.
“Later, the Italian restoration workshops of the 18th century. Lastly, of the early modern art market, where the desire to ‘perfect’ antiquities often led to dramatic interventions, in this case a dark grey overprinting. Now, by removing those additions, we can see the original goddess and Egyptian masterpiece emerge once again.”
David Aaron gallery said in its report of the work that the 18th century restoration was “clearly done by someone incredibly skilled in stone carving, and who had great confidence in their ability to restore ancient Egyptian work – once the stone removed from the underside of the bust had been carved, there would be no material for a second attempt without doing further damage to the statue … to modern eyes the restored nose simply raised questions about the sculpture’s antiquity. With these restorations removed, it became clear that the piece was truly an ancient Egyptian masterpiece.”
Egyptologist Biri Fay, who carried out close stylistic analysis, said: “The chronicle of this sculpture began over two-and-a-half millennia ago, during the reign of King Amasis. Subsequent alterations, as well as damage both intentional and accidental, contributed subtly to the serene beauty of the original. The creator of this sculpture was the Greywacke Master who carved some of the most beautiful statuary made in ancient Egypt.”
A Goddess Rediscovered will be exhibited by David Aaron at Frieze Masters 2025 from October 15-19 at Regent’s Park, London.
Desert Warrior
Starring: Anthony Mackie, Aiysha Hart, Ben Kingsley
Director: Rupert Wyatt
Rating: 3/5
Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
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hall of shame
SUNDERLAND 2002-03
No one has ended a Premier League season quite like Sunderland. They lost each of their final 15 games, taking no points after January. They ended up with 19 in total, sacking managers Peter Reid and Howard Wilkinson and losing 3-1 to Charlton when they scored three own goals in eight minutes.
SUNDERLAND 2005-06
Until Derby came along, Sunderland’s total of 15 points was the Premier League’s record low. They made it until May and their final home game before winning at the Stadium of Light while they lost a joint record 29 of their 38 league games.
HUDDERSFIELD 2018-19
Joined Derby as the only team to be relegated in March. No striker scored until January, while only two players got more assists than goalkeeper Jonas Lossl. The mid-season appointment Jan Siewert was to end his time as Huddersfield manager with a 5.3 per cent win rate.
ASTON VILLA 2015-16
Perhaps the most inexplicably bad season, considering they signed Idrissa Gueye and Adama Traore and still only got 17 points. Villa won their first league game, but none of the next 19. They ended an abominable campaign by taking one point from the last 39 available.
FULHAM 2018-19
Terrible in different ways. Fulham’s total of 26 points is not among the lowest ever but they contrived to get relegated after spending over £100 million (Dh457m) in the transfer market. Much of it went on defenders but they only kept two clean sheets in their first 33 games.
LA LIGA: Sporting Gijon, 13 points in 1997-98.
BUNDESLIGA: Tasmania Berlin, 10 points in 1965-66
MATCH INFO
What: 2006 World Cup quarter-final
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Where to buy
Limited-edition art prints of The Sofa Series: Sultani can be acquired from Reem El Mutwalli at www.reemelmutwalli.com
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Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
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Torque: 1,000Nm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh650,000
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France, UK, Canada, Australia, Portugal, Belgium, Malta, Luxembourg, San Marino and Andorra
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Fly from Dubai or Abu Dhabi to Chiang Mai in Thailand, via Bangkok, before taking a five-hour bus ride across the Laos border to Huay Xai. The land border crossing at Huay Xai is a well-trodden route, meaning entry is swift, though travellers should be aware of visa requirements for both countries.
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Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
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TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
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"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
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Al Ghaf Honey
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