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Catalogue

447. Statuette of an Ibis

Accession Number 2003.158
Dimensions H. 6.3, W. 8.0 cm; Wt. 67.47 g
Date Third century BCE–first century CE
Production Area Egypt
Material Bronze and opaque blue and red glass
Modeling Technique and Decoration Casting
View in Collection

Condition

The statuette is intact and in good condition, with some minor weathering of the bronze. The body and wings have very few minor scratches.

Description

Bronze statuette of a squatting Ibis. The head and feet are separately cast in bronze, and the feet have tangs for attachment. The splayed talons are naturalistically cast and incised. The ibis head has a sinuous neck and a long, down-curved bill with two triple grooves along its length. The eyes are recessed for the insertion of inlay. Of the eye inlays, only the plaster bed that once connected them has survived. The body is a dark, opaque blue and the tail feathers are inlaid opaque red glass with engraved details, perfectly fitted to the blue body.

Comments and Comparanda

The ibis is a cult symbol and a manifestation of the ancient Egyptian god Thoth, worshiped as the god of the moon, wisdom, writing, magic, art, and knowledge. There are several bronze statuettes of crouching ibis figures with glass or wooden body, especially from the Ptolemaic period, when the custom of making votive statues of sacred animals was extremely popular. On the god Thoth, see , s.v. “Thot,” pp. 805–812. For ibis statuettes, see, among others, , pp. 181–184; Sotheby’s, June 6, 2006, lot 87: https://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2006/antiquities-n08215/lot.87.html, Egyptian statue of an ibis in bronze with blue glass past inlay; Christoph Bacher, Statuette of a Glass and Bronze Ibis, ref. 1366: https://www.cb-gallery.com/en/produkt/statuette-eines-ibises-aus-glas-und-bronze/; Statuette of a gilt wood and bronze ibis, in Hindman Ancient Art and Natural History: A Cabinet of Curiosities 10 November 2022, no. 1009, p. 35, no. 49 = https://hindmanauctions.com/items/10621871-an-egyptian-gilt-wood-and-bronze-ibis.

Provenance

By 1974–1988, Erwin Oppenländer, 1901–1988 (Waiblingen, Germany), by inheritance to his son, Gert Oppenländer, 1988; 1988–2003, Gert Oppenländer (Waiblingen, Germany), sold to the J. Paul Getty Museum, 2003

Bibliography

, p. 41, no. 73; p. 29, plate no. 73.

Exhibitions

Gläser der Antike: Sammlung Erwin Oppenländer (Hamburg and Cologne, 1974–1975)