Bronze Statuette of the Falcon-headed God Montu

Culture: Egyptian

Period: Late period, 26th-30th dynasty, 664-343 B.C.

Material: Bronze

Dimensions: 22.6 cm high

Price: Sold

Ref: 1497

Provenance: Japanese private collection prior to 1980. Since 1980 in the Swiss collection A. A. L. in Geneva. Thence with Pierre Bergé auctions in Paris on 2 February 2017, lot 78.

Condition: The statuette with red-brown high-quality patina is excellently preserved. On the left side of the plinth the metal has cracked in ancient times due to tension and corroded around the left foot.

Description: Magnificent bronze statuette of Montu, the falcon-headed god from Thebes. The protector of arms and the god of war in a striding position with the left leg put forward. He wears a tripartite apron (“shendyt”), which is held by a finely decorated belt at the top. His neck is adorned by a multiple-row collar (“usekh”). Over the meticulously engraved, tripartite wig sits the high double crown with a central sun disk and a double uraeus up front. The deeply pierced eyes were once inlayed. Montu’s left arm hangs down, the hand formed to a fist. His right arm is bent and holds a crook with a falcon head with a feather crown, which grows from a papyrus stem. It is a rare attribute and underlines the importance of the god, whose popularity significantly increased again, especially in the Late period. Montu stands on his original plinth with encircling inscription on the outside. Readable are still the characters for “Lord of Thebes, that he may give him life…”. The statuette of excellent quality possibly served as an offering in one of the four Montu temples in the region of Thebes – Karnak, Armant, el-Tod or Medamud. See for the type the statuette in the British Museum with the museum number EA60339, as well as the one in the Louvre with the inventory number AF588. On an old, custom-made wood base.