AN EGYPTIAN STEATITE PALETTE IN THE FORM OF AN IBEX, NEW KINGDOM, 1550-1070 B.C.
AN EGYPTIAN STEATITE PALETTE IN THE FORM OF AN IBEX
NEW KINGDOM, 1550-1070 B.C.
8 in. (20.3 cm.) long
Provenance
Acquired by the current owner, New York, 1974 or prior.
Pre-Lot Text
PROPERTY FROM THE ESTATE OF WILLIAM KELLY SIMPSON
“Hardly a member of the lay public interested in Egypt has not read and enjoyed [William Kelly Simpson’s] Literature of Ancient Egypt, An Anthology of Stories, Instructions, and Poetry or learned from his Ancient Near East: A History” writes Boston Museum of Fine Arts curator Rita Freed of the late Egyptologist, William Kelly Simpson (1928-2017). Freed encompasses the sentiment that many who are enamored with ancient Egypt and the Near East feel, that it is nearly impossible to delve into these ancient cultures without encountering Simpson’s scholarship. But to simply think of William Kelly Simpson as a scholar is erroneous: his connections to Egyptology include the multifaceted titles of archaeologist, philologist, professor, curator and collector. Thus, Simpson held an unparalleled position within the field and is regarded as one of its most revered authorities.
William Kelly Simpson was born in Manhattan in 1928. He attended Manhattan’s Buckley School, Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts and Yale University from where he graduated in 1947 with a degree in English, and obtained his Master’s degree in Philosophy in 1948. That same year, he made his initial foray into Egyptology, when curators W.C. Hayes and Ambrose Lansing of The Metropolitan Museum of Art hired the graduate as a Curatorial Assistant in the Department of Egyptian Art. Imbued with an insatiable curiosity and precocious mind, Professor Simpson penned his first Egyptological article—an exploration of a Fourth Dynasty portrait head—at just twenty-one years old. That piece, published in the Bulletin of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, heralded a remarkable scholarly output, with more than 130 articles and twenty books written throughout his lifetime.
Professor Simpson’s position within The Met’s Department of Egyptian Art forever changed the trajectory of his life, and, indeed, the wider field of Egyptology. It was during his time at The Met that Professor Simpson participated in his first archaeological expedition—an excavation in Iraq sponsored by the British School of Archaeology—and decided to pursue graduate work in Egyptology. In the early 1950s, the young scholar commuted between his work in New York and his studies at Yale, all while serving in the 101st Armed Calvary of the New York National Guard. In June 1953, Professor Simpson married a granddaughter of John D. Rockefeller, Jr.
Professor Simpson studied for his doctorate under noted Egyptologist Ludlow Bull, and wrote his dissertation on the excavation of the pyramid of Amenemhat I. It was not until obtaining his Ph.D. from Yale in 1954, however, that Professor Simpson made his first trek to Egypt, after being awarded a prestigious Fulbright research fellowship. Professor Simpson led excavation teams at the Bent Pyramid at Dahshur and at Mitrahineh for two years. Upon returning to the United States, he was immediately offered a fellowship at Harvard’s Center for Middle Eastern Studies, and in 1958 was appointed Assistant Professor of Near Eastern Languages and Literature at Yale.
During Professor Simpson’s forty-six years in academia, he rose to Associate Professor, Professor, and Chair of Yale’s Department of Near Eastern Languages and Literature; was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in the Humanities; and positioned Yale as one of the foremost centers for Egyptology. Among his many archaeological projects in Egypt were the famed Pennsylvania-Yale Expeditions recording New Kingdom tombs and Meroitic cemeteries, the 1960s UNESCO campaign to rescue Nubian monuments threatened by the construction of the Aswan Dam, and excavations at the Giza Pyramids and sites in Nubia. “[Professor Simpson] served the monuments of Egypt…with unstinting passion,” noted fellow scholar Hussein Bassir. “He served as a major channel between Egypt and the US,” Bassir added, “to the benefit of the two nations and the archaeological and cultural ties between the two countries.”
I had the distinct pleasure of knowing Kelly for 25 years, as I met him soon after joining Christie’s in 1992. Of course I was well aware of his achievements, having lived in Cambridge, Massachusetts the decade prior, where everyone in the field of Ancient Art knew of his contributions to Egyptology, especially in terms of his tenure at the MFA, Boston. He was a frequent visitor to the pre-sale exhibitions at Christie’s and always generous with his opinions on the works of art on offer, and even an occasional buyer. More enjoyable still were the visits made to his homes in New York City and Westchester County together with my Christie’s colleagues when we were asked to appraise the collection. A delicious lunch was always served, with Kelly at the head of the table, driving the lively conversations with stories about the works in his collection or of his fascinating experiences in Egypt. I am sure I echo the sentiments of all who knew him that his passing creates an enormous void in the field of Egyptology. I can only hope that we can in some small way convey his importance to collectors and connoisseurs with our presentation of his private collection in our October Antiquities sale.
--G. Max Bernheimer, International Head of Antiquities at Christie’s
Literature
W.K. Simpson, The Face of Egypt, Permanence and Change in Egyptian Art, Katonah, 1977, no. 70.
P. Koob, Divine, Domestic and Desert Animals in Ancient Egyptian Art, Greenwich, 1979, no. 68.
Exhibited
Boston, Museum of Fine Arts, 1974 (Loan no. 253.1974).
Katonah Gallery and the Dallas Museum of Art, The Face of Egypt, Permanence and Change in Egyptian Art, 13 March-28 August 1977.
Greenwich, Connecticut, Greenwich Library, Divine, Domestic and Desert Animals in Ancient Egyptian Art,
4 January-4 March 1979.
Boston, Museum of Fine Arts, 22 March 1984-31 October 2000 (Loan no. 64.1984).
New Haven, The Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, 1984-1986.
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AN EGYPTIAN STEATITE PALETTE IN THE FORM OF AN IBEX
NEW KINGDOM, 1550-1070 B.C.
8 in. (20.3 cm.) long
Provenance
Acquired by the current owner, New York, 1974 or prior.
Pre-Lot Text
PROPERTY FROM THE ESTATE OF WILLIAM KELLY SIMPSON
“Hardly a member of the lay public interested in Egypt has not read and enjoyed [William Kelly Simpson’s] Literature of Ancient Egypt, An Anthology of Stories, Instructions, and Poetry or learned from his Ancient Near East: A History” writes Boston Museum of Fine Arts curator Rita Freed of the late Egyptologist, William Kelly Simpson (1928-2017). Freed encompasses the sentiment that many who are enamored with ancient Egypt and the Near East feel, that it is nearly impossible to delve into these ancient cultures without encountering Simpson’s scholarship. But to simply think of William Kelly Simpson as a scholar is erroneous: his connections to Egyptology include the multifaceted titles of archaeologist, philologist, professor, curator and collector. Thus, Simpson held an unparalleled position within the field and is regarded as one of its most revered authorities.
William Kelly Simpson was born in Manhattan in 1928. He attended Manhattan’s Buckley School, Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts and Yale University from where he graduated in 1947 with a degree in English, and obtained his Master’s degree in Philosophy in 1948. That same year, he made his initial foray into Egyptology, when curators W.C. Hayes and Ambrose Lansing of The Metropolitan Museum of Art hired the graduate as a Curatorial Assistant in the Department of Egyptian Art. Imbued with an insatiable curiosity and precocious mind, Professor Simpson penned his first Egyptological article—an exploration of a Fourth Dynasty portrait head—at just twenty-one years old. That piece, published in the Bulletin of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, heralded a remarkable scholarly output, with more than 130 articles and twenty books written throughout his lifetime.
Professor Simpson’s position within The Met’s Department of Egyptian Art forever changed the trajectory of his life, and, indeed, the wider field of Egyptology. It was during his time at The Met that Professor Simpson participated in his first archaeological expedition—an excavation in Iraq sponsored by the British School of Archaeology—and decided to pursue graduate work in Egyptology. In the early 1950s, the young scholar commuted between his work in New York and his studies at Yale, all while serving in the 101st Armed Calvary of the New York National Guard. In June 1953, Professor Simpson married a granddaughter of John D. Rockefeller, Jr.
Professor Simpson studied for his doctorate under noted Egyptologist Ludlow Bull, and wrote his dissertation on the excavation of the pyramid of Amenemhat I. It was not until obtaining his Ph.D. from Yale in 1954, however, that Professor Simpson made his first trek to Egypt, after being awarded a prestigious Fulbright research fellowship. Professor Simpson led excavation teams at the Bent Pyramid at Dahshur and at Mitrahineh for two years. Upon returning to the United States, he was immediately offered a fellowship at Harvard’s Center for Middle Eastern Studies, and in 1958 was appointed Assistant Professor of Near Eastern Languages and Literature at Yale.
During Professor Simpson’s forty-six years in academia, he rose to Associate Professor, Professor, and Chair of Yale’s Department of Near Eastern Languages and Literature; was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in the Humanities; and positioned Yale as one of the foremost centers for Egyptology. Among his many archaeological projects in Egypt were the famed Pennsylvania-Yale Expeditions recording New Kingdom tombs and Meroitic cemeteries, the 1960s UNESCO campaign to rescue Nubian monuments threatened by the construction of the Aswan Dam, and excavations at the Giza Pyramids and sites in Nubia. “[Professor Simpson] served the monuments of Egypt…with unstinting passion,” noted fellow scholar Hussein Bassir. “He served as a major channel between Egypt and the US,” Bassir added, “to the benefit of the two nations and the archaeological and cultural ties between the two countries.”
I had the distinct pleasure of knowing Kelly for 25 years, as I met him soon after joining Christie’s in 1992. Of course I was well aware of his achievements, having lived in Cambridge, Massachusetts the decade prior, where everyone in the field of Ancient Art knew of his contributions to Egyptology, especially in terms of his tenure at the MFA, Boston. He was a frequent visitor to the pre-sale exhibitions at Christie’s and always generous with his opinions on the works of art on offer, and even an occasional buyer. More enjoyable still were the visits made to his homes in New York City and Westchester County together with my Christie’s colleagues when we were asked to appraise the collection. A delicious lunch was always served, with Kelly at the head of the table, driving the lively conversations with stories about the works in his collection or of his fascinating experiences in Egypt. I am sure I echo the sentiments of all who knew him that his passing creates an enormous void in the field of Egyptology. I can only hope that we can in some small way convey his importance to collectors and connoisseurs with our presentation of his private collection in our October Antiquities sale.
--G. Max Bernheimer, International Head of Antiquities at Christie’s
Literature
W.K. Simpson, The Face of Egypt, Permanence and Change in Egyptian Art, Katonah, 1977, no. 70.
P. Koob, Divine, Domestic and Desert Animals in Ancient Egyptian Art, Greenwich, 1979, no. 68.
Exhibited
Boston, Museum of Fine Arts, 1974 (Loan no. 253.1974).
Katonah Gallery and the Dallas Museum of Art, The Face of Egypt, Permanence and Change in Egyptian Art, 13 March-28 August 1977.
Greenwich, Connecticut, Greenwich Library, Divine, Domestic and Desert Animals in Ancient Egyptian Art,
4 January-4 March 1979.
Boston, Museum of Fine Arts, 22 March 1984-31 October 2000 (Loan no. 64.1984).
New Haven, The Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, 1984-1986.
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