ClassificationsAncient Egyptian Art

Figure of a Baboon Playing a Lute

Possible OriginHermopolis, Egypt, Africa

CultureEgyptian

PeriodThird Intermediate Period, Dynasty 22 - Late Period, Dynasty 26

Date943-525 BCE

MediumFaience

Credit LineGift of the Georges Ricard Foundation

Dimensions2 3/8 x 1 1/8 x 3/4 in. (6 x 2.8 x 1.9 cm)

Object number2018.010.564

Label TextAnimals playing musical instruments appear in Egyptian art from the Old Kingdom to the Roman period. The baboon crouches on his hindquarters and plays the lute, an instrument introduced in the New Kingdom. Composed of spotted faience, this figurine likely dates to the Third Intermediate period or later when workshops producing spotted faience operated in the eastern Delta.

A recent interpretation suggests these figures relate to the myth of “The Return of the Faraway Goddess”. In this myth, the feline goddess Bastet was angry at the sun god Re and left Egypt for Nubia. Re sent the baboon god Thoth to entice Bastet with fables. Musicians and dancers accompanied Bastet back to Egypt, and her arrival brought good fortune to Egypt.
Exhibition HistoryMichael C. Carlos Museum, Veneralia 2019 Senuseret Collection Preview, May 18, 2019
Life and the Afterlife: Ancient Egyptian Art from the Senusret Collection, Michael C. Carlos Museum, February 4 - August 6, 2023
Published ReferencesMelinda K. Hartwig, ed., Life and The Afterlife: Ancient Egyptian Art from the Senusret Collection (Atlanta: Michael C. Carlos Museum, 2023), catalogue entry 96.

ProvenanceSaid to be ex coll. Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener (1850-1916), Egypt and Great Britain. Ex coll. Georges Ricard Foundation, Santa Barbara, California, possibly purchased from Jean-François Mignon, Aix-en Provence, France.

Status

Not on view

Collections