**Originally Listed At $3500**

Ancient Egypt, Ptolemaic Period, ca. 2nd to late 1st century BCE. A fine and rare limestone sculptor's model depicting Taweret, the amalgam goddess of marriage and protector of women, especially those in childbirth. Taweret (also Tawaret, Tauret, or Thoueris) is shown with typical almond-shaped eyes, heavy cosmetic lines around the orbitals, and a strong snout, however the muzzle is more bovine in form than hippopotamus; this is especially noticeable given the stocky chin. A pair of perky ears rest beneath the bases of 2 thick horns, perhaps Hathoric in presentation, and the back of the mandible and head are gently rounded. Size: 7.2" L x 5.3" W x 7.25" H (18.3 cm x 13.5 cm x 18.4 cm); 10.875" H (27.6 cm) on included custom stand.

A carved head like this example may have served as a model for a larger sculpture, to teach apprentice sculptors how to replicate a master style, or to produce ushabti figures (small funerary statues for tombs). Though sculptors' models are typically difficult to date - with some being from the Amarna period of the 18th Dynasty when new forms of statuary came in - most known examples are from the Late Dynastic and Ptolemaic periods. The Egyptians were keen observers of fauna, with many different animals gracing their mythology, artwork, and hieroglyphs; however, anthropomorphic models were typically among the most challenging to carve accurately.

While sculptors' models appear to be from larger composite figures, their incomplete presentation could be an entirely separate item typology. Ancient Greek sculptural incompleteness was a generic form of presentation as the viewer could extrapolate who or what a sculpture was meant to represent. In contrast, the ancient Egyptians would view an incomplete votive work of art only as it was: part of a bird, a disembodied head, or in one instance the hind quarters of a lion. According to Eric Young of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, "When we consider the Egyptian pieces as sculptors' models, however, their incompleteness is no longer disturbing, but entirely understandable. As is the case with unquestioned sculptors' models...the apprentice sculptor concentrated his energies on those portions of the figure that he found intriguing, or most difficult, and the master sculptor demonstrated the correct way to delineate a head?" ("Sculptors' Models or Votives? In Defense of a Scholarly Tradition." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, March 1964, p. 255).

Cf. a sculpture of Taweret with very similar facial features at The Fitzwilliam Museum entitled, "Statue of the Goddess Taweret."

Provenance: ex-private Santa Barbara, California, USA collection; ex-Charles Craig collection, before 2000

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#179661

Professional restoration to nose, with resurfacing and overpainting along new material and break lines. Losses to horns as shown, with possible stabilization to fissure around and beneath mandible. Minor chips and abrasions, with light resurfacing to some areas, and minor earthen deposits, otherwise in excellent condition. Wonderful preservation to unique facial features. Mounting hole drilled and lined with metal along bottom in modern times.