DYNASTY XVIII, CIRCA 1350 B.C.

Details

AN EGYPTIAN ALABASTER AMULET OF QUEEN TIY AS THE GODDESS TAWERET
DYNASTY XVIII, CIRCA 1350 B.C.
The pregnant hippopotamus goddess with pendant breasts, the eyes with elongated eyeline, wearing tripartite wig and modius crown, pierced at the top for attachment
2¾ in. (7 cm.) high

Provenance

Acquired by the present owner's father in the 1950s (d. 1969), and thence by descent to the present owner.

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 15% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis. Please note that the lots of Iranian origin are subject to U.S. trade restrictions which currently prohibit the import into the United States. Similar restrictions may apply in other countries.

Lot Essay

Cf. A. Kozloff and B. M. Bryan, Egypt's Dazzling Sun, Cleveland Museum of Art, 1992, pp. 402-403, no. 105, for a wood ointment jar in the form of Queen Tiy as Taweret ("the great one").
Taweret or "Ipet" may have represented the constellation now called Draco ("the Dragon") in which the star Thuban, the ancient north polar star, was located. Queen Tiy was associated with the goddess Hathor, another sky goddess. Probably due to her celestial importance, Ipet was conflated with Nut and Hathor, as was Queen Tiy, as a sky goddess, and they were protectresses of the sun. As a hippopotamus, symbol of fecundity, the stone of the above amulet might have been chosen deliberately to simulate the ripple effects of water.

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