Large Statuette of Thoth in Form of a Seated Ibis

Culture: Egyptian

Period: Late Period, 664-332 B.C.

Material: Bronze, wood

Dimensions: 24 cm x 30 cm

Price: Sold

Ref: 1257

Provenance: Genovese private collection Martine de Toledo, Switzerland prior to 1982. With a copy of an inventory list by Kurt Schaerer, Fribourg, of 19 March 1982, where the statuette is listed.

Condition: Hardly visible, small restorations on the middle claw of the left foot. Legs possibly reattached, but definitely belonging. The wood corpus with age-related cracks but not restored.

Description: Large wood and bronze statuette in form of a resting ibis, a manifestation of Thoth, god of the moon, writing, wisdom and all intellectual activity. The wood body with remains of the original plaster coating. Head and legs are made of bronze and very finely worked out. The legs with scaly drawn surface, the claws long, with notched limbs and pointy ends. The outermost limb is bent backwards. The head of the ibis sits on a sinuous neck, the round eyes possibly once had glass inlays. The bill with finely drawn notches is long and bent downwards. During festivities and processions the priests responsible for the cult carried statuettes from the temple of Thoth in Hermopolis Magna to the close by necropolis of Tuna el-Gebel, where they were placed in underground tunnels. The custom to produce votive statues of sacred animals was especially popular during the Late Period. These statuettes were also found in tombs of scribes. Mounted.