A GREEN GLAZED COMPOSITION FIGURE OF THE BABOON OF THOTH, seated on a nb (basket) sign, wearing a tripartite wig, the back column in the form of two bound bundles of palm branches, Saite Period, circa 6th Century B.C.

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A GREEN GLAZED COMPOSITION FIGURE OF THE BABOON OF THOTH, seated on a nb (basket) sign, wearing a tripartite wig, the back column in the form of two bound bundles of palm branches, Saite Period, circa 6th Century B.C.
2½in. (6.4cm.) high

Lot Essay

This is a rare figure of Thoth as the recorder of time, with the palm branch symbolising rnpt (years), cf. E. Riefstahl, Ancient Egyptian Glass and Glazes, Brooklyn, 1968, no. 68. In the comment on page 109, it is suggested that this might be a replica of a figure used on a water clock, see J. Capart, Clepsydres éyptiennes, Chronique d'Egypte, 12, 1937, pp. 47-48

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