Beautiful Egyptian Faience Hippopotamus (2040-1638 BC)
Middle Kingdom, Ancient Egypt
This statuette of a hippopotamus (popularly called "William") was molded in faience, a ceramic material made of ground quartz.
A glass-like material associated with rebirth, Egyptian faience was often used to make grave goods, such as this hippo.
Hippos were associated with the Nile River, considered the source of all life.
Beneath the blue glaze, the body was painted with lotuses.
These river plants depict the marshes in which the animal lived, but at the same time, their flowers also symbolize regeneration and rebirth as they close every night and open again in the morning.
The plant motifs painted on the figurine were to symbolize the animal in its natural environment.
Blue is the color of the waters of the Nile.
The bright blue color of this hippo seemingly contrasts with the naturalistic modeling of its face and ears.
By using blue glaze and covering the hippo's body with images of plant and animal life, the artist represented the animal in its habitat and evoked both the Nile River and the primeval waters of the god Nu, suggesting themes of life and rebirth.
The seemingly benign appearance that this figurine presents is deceptive.
To the ancient Egyptians, the hippopotamus was one of the most dangerous animals in their world.
The huge creatures were a hazard for small fishing boats and other rivercraft.
The beast might also be encountered on the waterways in the journey to the afterlife.
As such, the hippopotamus was a force of nature that needed to be propitiated and controlled, both in this life and the next.
Egyptians' wish for life after death may account for the inclusion of hippo statuettes in tombs of officials during the Middle Kingdom.
The placement of hippo figures in tombs, sometimes in direct contact with the mummy, required that the animal's dangerous aspects be negated so that the deceased would not be physically harmed.
This example was one of a pair found in a shaft associated with the tomb chapel of the steward Senbi II at Meir, an Upper Egyptian site about 30 miles south of modern Asyut.
Three of its legs have been restored because they were probably purposely broken to prevent the creature from harming the deceased.
The hippo was part of Senbi's burial equipment, which included a canopic box, a coffin, and numerous models of boats and food production.
The hippo's modern nickname first appeared in 1931 in a story that was published in the British humor magazine Punch.
It reports about a family that consults a color print of the Met’s hippo, which it calls "William," as an oracle.
The Met republished the story the same year in the museum’s Bulletin, and the name William caught on.
(7.8 x 5.2 x 20.3cm)
📍: MET Museum
