Featured Egyptian revival bracelet with bugs (scarabs)

Correction: date letter is H, 1933/34 (1352 in the Islamic calendar).

I'm not sure the Egyptians have realized they were ever dead.

Unglazed steatite.

Probably the same one that is currently on eBay as item # 292429823664. Seller says it was purchased at the Smithsonian more than 30 years ago. It has an Arabic date that is not decipherable from the photo.

Jeff's bracelet is nicer, with its graduated scarabs that are not all quite the same style. Will not be surprised if it does turn out to be earlier than my original estimate. Pre-1940 date marks use Roman letters & are usually easier to be sure about than later Arabic ones, so there's a good chance of pinning down the age. There is probably a silver fineness mark on every major component.

 

Not sure this is completely helpful, but it's a start.

 

Did Jeff say whether this was silver or gold?
I didn't see. I was assuming gold, but now realize the pictures have a heavy yellow cast. And after seeing komo's photo, Jeff's could be silver.

Also these details seem nicer

 

He confirmed it is silver:

This one is gold, although marked as 12K, not 18K as seller asserts:

 

If they were, the world now knows they have been revived. It's a miracle!
They should have called it Ancient Egyptian Revival of course. Not that anyone would use a term that long.

 

Mine is gold plated silver. Must not have been worn too much since most of the missing plating is on the inside and the opening button. I took these in natural light and color is much closer to reality; and learned my lesson about pics taken with fluorescent light.

I can't get anything out of the first mark which I was asked about, but maybe I'm just not seeing it. The other one from the inside clearly shows Cairo 800 and the date letter which seems to change a lot depending on light position, but looks a lot like G from this light, so I'm guessing that's it.

Personally I think these might be authentic antique scarabs; made of glazed steatite, they have the holes front to back, and heiroglyphics are quite good (one test for repros is lousy heiroglyphics since it isn't used anymore - similar to incorrect dynasty marks on reproduction chinese pottery) . Condition so good and color and size pretty well matched since gathered back when supply was much higher (I read many thousands of these used to be found and sold to tourists). But I'm no Egyptologist so I of course will never know for sure.

Thanks, this was great fun and I learned a lot. I'll post some more jewelry since I've gotten started with that and have LOTS to learn.

 

Beautiful, Jeff. Yes, looks like a G to me, so 1931-32. Can't see if it is Alexandria or Cairo.

 

I definitely see a G. Fineness mark on the clasp tongue looks more like 900 to me. Assay office is most likely to be Cairo, although AJ is right, the Alexandria mark has a similar look. The mark on the box was really poorly stamped but I could see it as 18, so maybe 900 silver with 18K gilding. I have sometimes seen gilt items marked as 600 silver. This is a very nice piece.

Have never seen a scarab of this type that did not have a hole running through it; don't think that feature says anything about age. I will agree that there is a fairly strong possibility the scarabs are excavated ones.

 

This is just a general information note for Egyptian hallmarks. Looking for something else in my bookmarks, came across this one. If it brings you to the same selection of this book as it does me, you will have a nice clear table of date marks. I'm not not sure some of the info is 100% reliable, can't think why she would say the bird symbol used on gold is an albatross, for example, but the table & illustrations are useful to have.