The present drawing is related to J.-C. Delafosse's work on the Nouvelle Iconologie Historique, first edition, Paris 1768, second edition, 1771 which is itself inspired by Baudoin's Iconologie, Paris, 1677. Other drawings related to this series are known although, like the present drawing, they do not all correspond to the recorded prints. The present drawing was probably executed when Delafosse was working on the 1^er Cayer de Trophées utilisés à toutes sortes d'ouvrage which contained, as published, 48 designs for trophies presented in twelve plates engraved by Juillet and Delafosse. In the present drawing, the artist has used the subject more as a vehicle for his imagination, subverting traditional representations with fantastical forms and ornanment, rather than attempting a strict factual representation of the country and culture of 'L'Egypte et sa religion'. This freedom, in which lies Delafosse's originality, was criticised by his more iconographically strict contemporaries such as Jacques-François Blondel who warned of the dangers of imitation of Delafosse's 'ridicule' designs, J.F. Blondel, L'Homme du monde éclairé par les arts, Amsterdam, 1774, II, no. 86.
Comparable designs are in the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, inv. no. 18405, the collection of S. Kaufman, and formely in the collection of Charles-Eugène Bérard, Paris, 21-25 November 1891, lot 107