Details

LOT 0004

Egyptian Faience Figure of Thoth

26TH DYNASTY, 664-525 B.C.

3 1/2 in. (44.7 grams, 88 mm high).

A pale green glazed composition figure of Thoth in ibis-head form, plain dorsal pillar, pleated kilt, tripartite wig; old collector's inked accession number 'E.1000' to the reverse; repaired.

Provenance

Ex Roger Liechti collection, Geneva, Switzerland.

This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.11595-199013.

Literature

Cf. Andrews, C., Amulets of Ancient Egypt, London, 1994, frontispiece for similar.

Footnotes

One of the most prominent of the ancient Egyptian gods, Thoth was associated with writing, magic and wisdom, and was credited with founding a number of branches of knowledge including law, religion and science. He is believed to have been self-created or grown from the seed of Horus from the forehead of Set. As the son of the gods of order and chaos, he was also the god of equilibrium. As such, he was considered a just and infallible judge.
Worshipped from the Pre-Dynastic to the Ptolemaic Period, Thoth was one of the longest, continuously worshipped gods from any civilisation. Thoth's Egyptian name was Djehuty (also dhwty) meaning ‘He Who is Like the Ibis’, a sacred bird in ancient Egypt as well as a popular pet associated with wisdom.