An Egyptian lapis lazuli vulture amulet and an Egyptian miniature iridescent glass Osiris amulet

An Egyptian lapis lazuli vulture amulet and an Egyptian miniature iridescent glass Osiris amulet
Late Period-Ptolemaic Period, circa 664-30 B.C.
The seated bird probably representing either the goddess Nekhbet or Mut, perched on an oval base, 1.5cm high; the Osiris depicted mummiform, holding crook and flail and wearing the atef crown, 3.5cm high, together with an Egyptian or Eastern Mediterranean feldspar phallus amulet,
Ptolemaic-Roman Period, circa 3rd-1st Century B.C., the tip pierced for attachment, 1.2cm high (3)

Provenance:
Private collection, USA, formed from the 1980s onwards.

Such vulture amulets had an apotropaic power, as these carrion fowl posed a threat to any corpse, yet were also associated with the protective vulture goddess, Nekhbet (see C. Andrews, Amulets of Ancient Egypt, London, 1994). There is a similar lapis lazuli example in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, acc. no. 22.1.60, dated to the Middle Kingdom–Early New Kingdom, 12–18th Dynasty, circa 1981–1640 B.C.