Ancient Egypt, New Kingdom, 18th to 20th Dynasty, ca. 1550 to 1070 BCE. A hand-carved steatite baboon seated with both hands on bent knees, its chest covered by a fur shawl decorated as an elaborate wesekh pectoral collar. This simian effigy presents with finely incised hair strands, broad tufts of hair projecting out from either temple, a neatly arranged coiffure, and a conical face bearing petite eyes as well as a sharp nasal ridge. This figure is intended to represent Thoth, the god of writing, accounting, and mathematics, in his more unusual baboon form. Size: 0.94" L x 1.2" W x 1.31" H (2.4 cm x 3 cm x 3.3 cm); 2.33" H (5.9 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)
Cf. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession number 66.99.55.
This artifact was appraised by Sotheby Parke Bernet on October 11, 1973.
Provenance: East Coast collection, New York Gallery, New York City, New York, USA, acquired before 2010; ex-private Richard B. collection, Park Avenue, New York, USA, acquired 1970s
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#182328
Condition
Losses to front of proper left leg, most of posterior, and small area behind right side of head as shown, with relatively smooth surfaces that indicate the age of these areas.