Provenance:
Sotheby's, New York, Antiquities and Islamic Art, 29 May 1987, Lot 43.
Royal Athena Galleries, New York. [Inv. no. MJ1701]
Private Collection, Doylestown, Pennsylvania, acquired from the above in 1987. 
Private Collection (J.M.), Amsterdam, 2005-2017.
with Royal Athena Galleries, New York, 2006 (Art of the Ancient World, Vol. XVII, no. 197).
Acquired by the present owner from the above, 13 September 2021.

Though their meaning remains ambivalent, modern scholars continue to debate the significance of Egyptian faience statuettes in the form of hippopotami. In ancient Egypt, it was believed that one of the earliest pharaohs was killed by a hippopotamus while hunting on the Nile River. From temple wall scenes depicting their harpooning to tomb gifts found in burial chambers, the “river horse” has played an important role in ancient Egypt’s material culture. Spending much of their time submerged in the primeval mud of the Nile, some believe they represent the evil forces of the Underworld and the god Seth, while others believe they serve as symbols of rebirth into the Afterlife.

This hippopotamus strikes a dynamic posture that is both rare and charming. His mouth is open wide, and his head is turned back as if yawning having just woken from a deep sleep. As is the case with most faience hippopotami that have been found, this statuette was once deliberately broken. Its upper jaw, three feet, and underside have been restored in modern times. Still, the naturalistic modeling and drawn water flowers and plants that decorate it make it among the finest examples of its type known today.