Large Blue Faience Figure of Nourishing God Bes

Culture: Egyptian

Period: Third Intermediate period, 1069-945 B.C.

Material: Faience

Dimensions: 17.4 cm high

Price: Sold

Ref: 1440

Provenance: Swiss art market prior to 1983. Thence Sotheby’s New York on 8 June 1994, lot 10. From there acquired by the collection S., Paris, France. Thence collection Emmacha Paris prior to 2013. With a copy of the publication of the statuette in the catalogue of the Emmacha collection of 2013. Accompanied by a French antiquities passport.

Condition: Intact

Description: Large statuette of the dwarf-like tutelary god Bes made of blue glazed faience. Bes acts in his function as the protector and nourisher, as the almighty Lord of the fate of mothers and children. He crouches on a papyrus column and wears a high crown with five feathers arising from his basket-like headdress, a kalathos. The ends of the feathers are painted in black. On the sides of his head and the protruding ears two crouching monkeys, which hold their front paws to their eating mouth. The god lovingly holds another young monkey in his left hand while passing some fruit with his right hand. A fourth young monkey sits straight and is also eating between the short, strong legs of Bes. The distinctive face of the tutelary deity is typically grotesque, with a shaggy beard and open mouth with visible rows of teeth and the tongue sticking out. The entire figure is decorated on the front and back with black lines and dots. Perforations at the end of the feather crown and above the ears indicate that the statuette was in addition decorated with a precious metal. A ribbed eyelet on the back served for suspension, possibly on a bed or in a room of a mother or her children. The bottom is also pierced so the figure could also be mounted. Found in the eastern Delta. Published in "La Collection Emmacha. Antiquités Égyptiennes", Livre 2, Paris 2013, pages 217-218. See for the type the figure in the Penn Museum with the object number E14358. Mounted.