Figure of a walking hippopotamus
Dynasty XII, c. 1880 BC
Egypt
Faience
w. 18.4 cm
UEA 306The fluid lines of this delightful sculpture owe much to the fact that it was modelled, not carved. Egyptian faience, from which the hippopotamus is made, is a granular quartz paste coloured with a blue-green copper compound, from which objects could be modelled or mould-made. In the case of vessels, they could be thrown on the wheel. This hippopotamus would have probably been placed in a tomb both to protect and to assist the re-birth of the deceased.
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