GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Although this schist relief is from a late period of Egyptian art, it has the hieroglyphic purity of an earlier Egyptian style. Egyptian art was very conservative; once a satisfactory visual convention had been created, it might last for generations. Here the image of Thoth, god of learning, writing, and measurement, is carved in sunk relief. The ibis-headed god strides forward in the conventional posture designed for processional reliefs, bringing two staves (staffs), each symbolic of the years of the king's life and the period of his reign, to a now-missing figure of the king. At the bottom of each staff is a circular hieroglyph meaning "eternity." The relief is sharply cut for maximum readability; inscription and image are united. This fragment is probably from the same monument as the Dallas Museum of Art's Nile God Hapi Ritually Tying Together Upper and Lower Egypt (1991.114) that continues the theme of kingship. The exact nature of the original monument is uncertain, but the fragments are likely from a throne, a naos (shrine), or similar architectonic structure. Thoth in ibis form is also associated with the afterlife and Osiris' kingdom of the dead in the West.
Adapted from
- Anne Bromberg, Dallas Museum of Art: Selected Works, (Dallas, Texas: Dallas Museum of Art, 1983), 94.
NOTES
- updated culture to "Egyptian"
- updated provenance and geo x refs
- Notes from visit of 24 April 1987 with Arielle Kozloff and Carlos Picon: "Arielle described this and 33.1983 as really the stars in the Egyptian collection. She loved the wonderful sheen of the raised areas which contrasted with the rougher texture of the lower surfaces. Carlos believes that both of these had been in the Sambonne (?) collection which was sold in Paris in 1914.
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Cultures
Geography
Process/materials
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
Before 1914: Collection of Arthur Sambon, sold in auction May 25-28, 1914, Item #7
1914-1978: unknown
1978: Edward H. Merrin Gallery, New York, purchased at auction from Sotheby Parke Bernet & Co., London, England, April 10th, 1978, Plate XXXII
From 1979: Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, gift of Elsa von Seggern, purchased from Edward H. Merrin Gallery, New York [1], [2]
[1] See acquisition record from Collections Records Object File 1979.1
[2] The name of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, founded in 1933, was changed to the Dallas Museum of Art in 1983.
AUDIO ASSETS
13309349: UMO; Listen to a gallery talk given by Aditi Samarth of Richland College on November 5, 2008 entitled, "Concepts of Eternity in Ancient Egypt."
VIDEO ASSETS
IMAGE ASSETS
WEB RESOURCES
ARCHIVAL RESOURCES
FUN FACTS
TEACHING IDEAS
RULES
Apply to objects where number equals 1979.1
Category
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General Description
Although this schist relief is from a late period of Egyptian art, it has the hieroglyphic purity of an earlier Egyptian style. Egyptian art was very conservative; once a satisfactory visual convention had been created, it might last for generations. Here the image of Thoth, god of learning, writing, and measurement, is carved in sunk relief. The ibis-headed god strides forward in the conventional posture designed for processional reliefs, bringing two staves (staffs), each symbolic of the years of the king's life and the period of his reign, to a now-missing figure of the king. At the bottom of each staff is a circular hieroglyph meaning "eternity." The relief is sharply cut for maximum readability; inscription and image are united. This fragment is probably from the same monument as the Dallas Museum of Art's Nile God Hapi Ritually Tying Together Upper and Lower Egypt (1991.114) that continues the theme of kingship. The exact nature of the original monument is uncertain, but the fragments are likely from a throne, a naos (shrine), or similar architectonic structure. Thoth in ibis form is also associated with the afterlife and Osiris' kingdom of the dead in the West.
Adapted from
- Anne Bromberg, Dallas Museum of Art: Selected Works, (Dallas, Texas: Dallas Museum of Art, 1983), 94.
Fun Facts
Archival Resources
Web Resources
Notes
- updated culture to "Egyptian"
- updated provenance and geo x refs
- Notes from visit of 24 April 1987 with Arielle Kozloff and Carlos Picon: "Arielle described this and 33.1983 as really the stars in the Egyptian collection. She loved the wonderful sheen of the raised areas which contrasted with the rougher texture of the lower surfaces. Carlos believes that both of these had been in the Sambonne (?) collection which was sold in Paris in 1914.
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Cultures
Geography
Process/materials
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
Before 1914: Collection of Arthur Sambon, sold in auction May 25-28, 1914, Item #7
1914-1978: unknown
1978: Edward H. Merrin Gallery, New York, purchased at auction from Sotheby Parke Bernet & Co., London, England, April 10th, 1978, Plate XXXII
From 1979: Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, gift of Elsa von Seggern, purchased from Edward H. Merrin Gallery, New York [1], [2]
[1] See acquisition record from Collections Records Object File 1979.1
[2] The name of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, founded in 1933, was changed to the Dallas Museum of Art in 1983.
AUDIO ASSETS
13309349: UMO; Listen to a gallery talk given by Aditi Samarth of Richland College on November 5, 2008 entitled, "Concepts of Eternity in Ancient Egypt."
VIDEO ASSETS
rules
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Objects
number
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1979.1
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object_notes_2_b-0336.xml.nores