Skip to main content
© Bruce M. White, 2005.
Cow Goddess from an Offering Bowl
© Bruce M. White, 2005.
© Bruce M. White, 2005.
© Bruce M. White, 2005.
ClassificationsAncient Egyptian Art

Cow Goddess from an Offering Bowl

AAT Object Form/Functionappliqué (metalwork ornament)
AAT Object Form/Functionfigurines
Place CreatedEgypt, Africa
CultureEgyptian
PeriodNew Kingdom, Dynasty 18
Date1539-1292 BCE
MediumBronze
Credit LineMohamed Farid Khamis/Oriental Weavers Fund
Dimensions3 x 3 1/8 in. (7.6 x 7.9 cm)
Object number2005.031.003
Label TextThis bronze figure of the Hathor cow, the bovine form of the goddess Hathor, would have originally been affixed to the bottom of a metal bowl. Intact examples have been found in Thebes, where two temples dedicated to Hathor existed during the 18th Dynasty, and therefore may have been votive offerings to the goddess or precious household items. One scholar has suggested that the bowls may have once held flowers, and while such has not been confirmed, the bowl's Hathoric meaning may have been reinforced with flowers. Hathor was associated with the Northern Delta and is often represented striding out of a clump of tall water plants, it is possible that flowers in the dish may have mimicked this effect. Secondly, Hathor was associated with love, sexuality, and fertility and these associations could have been emphasized with the addition of flowers to the bowl as flowers are often represented in scenes relating to these themes.
Exhibition HistoryFrom Pharaohs to Emperors: New Egyptian and Classical Antiquities at Emory, Michael C. Carlos Museum, January 14 - April 2, 2006
MCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, 2006 - Present
Published ReferencesRoyal-Athena Galleries, Art of the Ancient World Volume XII (2001), 115, number 344.
MCCM Newsletter, December 2005 - February 2006.
ProvenanceEx coll. Horace L. Mayer (1899-1968), Williamstown, Massachusetts. Lent by Mayer to Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, May 7, 1930. Ex coll. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (1978.555), received as a gift from Mayer, December 1978. Deaccessioned by Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, February 28, 1991. With Jerome Eisenberg (1930-2022) [Royal-Athena Galleries], New York, New York, from 2000. Purchased by MCCM from Royal-Athena Galleries.
Status
On view
Collections
  • Ancient Egyptian, Nubian, and Near Eastern Art