Lot 15
Ancient Egypt, Late Dynastic to Ptolemaic Period, ca. 664 to 30 BCE. A mold-formed faience figure of a striding baboon with its left leg presented atop an integral rectangular plinth, arms hanging at its sides, displaying genitalia, and all covered in light blue glaze. The baboon in Egyptian mythology typically represents Thoth, the god of writing, accounting, and mathematics, in his more unusual simian form. Size: 0.56" L x 0.4" W x 1.35" H (1.4 cm x 1 cm x 3.4 cm); 2.77" H (7 cm) on included custom stand.
According to Egyptologists Erik Hornung and Betsy M. Bryan, "As primeval animals, baboons and green monkeys were prominent parts of the Egyptian cosmogony. The earliest gods are sometimes depicted with baboon heads. The baboon became an aspect of the sun god, Re . . . And of the moon god, Thoth-Khonsu. Thoth (Djehuty in ancient Egyptian) was the god of writing and knowledge, who was depicted in the form of two animals: the baboon (Papio cynocephalus) and the sacred Ibis (Threskiornis aethiopicus). In his baboon form Thoth was closely associated with the baboon god, Hedj-wer (the great white one) of the Early Dynastic period. By the end of the Old Kingdom (2686 - 2181 BCE) he was usually portrayed as an ibis-headed man, holding a scribal palette and pen or a notched palm leaf, performing some kind of act of recording or calculation." (Hornung, Erik and Betsy M. Bryan, eds. "The Quest for Immortality: Treasures of Ancient Egypt." National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2002, p. 200)
Exhibited in the Robert and Frances Fullerton Museum of Art (RAFFMA), California State University, San Bernardino from 1998 to 2023, reference number EL01.110.1998
Provenance: Collection of Dr. W. Benson Harer, Los Angeles, California, USA, purchased in 1975 from Superior Galleries, Los Angeles, California, USA; ex-collection of Philip Mitry, noted antiquarian, 1930 to 1953, then imported into the United States; Exhibited in the Robert and Frances Fullerton Museum of Art (RAFFMA), California State University, San Bernardino from 1998 to 2023, reference number EL01.110.1998
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#182196
- Condition: Repaired at ankles with light adhesive residue along break lines. Minor softening to some finer details, with light fading to glaze pigment in scattered areas, otherwise in great condition. Nice preservation to overall form. Base of figure is adhered to top of display stand and cannot be removed.
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