Further images
Faience amulet of Thoth, the god of writing, accounting and knowledge, represented as a baboon. He is naturalistically rendered in the round, squatting on his hind legs with his tail tucked beneath him. He holds an Udjat eye in his hands, with his proper right arm poised above it, his left supporting it below. His thick furry cape shown as a series of overlapping diamond-shaped lappets, the fur of his lower body depicted in a series of short, incised dashes. The left hand broken away and missing, a chip to the right front of the base and several smaller chips to the proper right side, the suspension loop to the back broken away, otherwise intact.
Amulets showing Thoth in his baboon form usually depict him wearing an Udjat eye pendant on his chest, but this piece takes the more unusual form wherein the baboon is holding the eye in his paws. In this guise, Thoth is especially linked to his role as the inventor of writing and the divine scribe. Thoth was connected with both the sun and the moon, traditionally seen as the two “eyes” of the celestial god Horus. The left eye represents the moon, while the right Udjat eye corresponds to the sun.
Hematite (iron oxide) was used to produce reddish-brown tones in faience, while copper was added to create blue and green colours.
Provenance
Mrs Mary Pearman (1909-1999), UK; acquired in Alexandria, Egypt, 1936-1944, whilst stationed there with her husband
Bonhams, London, UK, Antiquities, 6th October 2010, lot 416
Private collection, Rotterdam, the Netherlands; acquired from the UK art market, February 2012
