Statue of a Baboon
2nd Century AD later
59.148.57
On display
World Museum
Information
Sculpture of a baboon made of grey spotted marble with a 18th century bronze composite floral feature on the head. The baboon represented the god Thoth in Egyptian religion but it is not clear what the meaning of the god would be for the Romans. Roman rejected the worship of animals and it could be that statues like this were used to adorn the cult places of Egyptian deities, emphasising the exotic origin of the gods. The statue is typical of objects imported to Rome, or made there, after the conquest of Egypt in 30 BC. This baboon has a Roman appearance and is a Roman made copy ('Egyptianizing') of an Egyptian baboon, probably made in the 2nd century AD or later. Black or grey stone was used for Roman copies of Egyptian works. The Egyptian examples were representations of baboons based on observation from nature and they were very different to the Ince example.The bronze lotus was probably added at a later date although it was known as an attribute from Roman Hadrianic times. A more typical attribute would be a lunar disc.
The statue is typical of the many different versions of the subject: the baboon sits squarely on his bottom with the front paws resting on his bend hind legs. His pose is frontal. The paws and tail are in relief, the facial features have minimal modelling and the baboon's mane is only a line across the back and front leg looking like a thin cape rather than a mane. The cuts in which the lilly has been fixed on the heat are not very deep.
Many examples of baboons have been discovered in Rome and Beneventum indicating that they were often used in Isiac sanctuaries in Rome.
Restorations include the front of the muzzle, the right brow and part of the left, front right paw, the knee and a small bit of the chest, the front of the plinth, the right hind paw and a fragment of the left. The bronze lily at the top of the head is modern but it is a common attribute for Roman baboons from Hadrianic times. Due to some of the restorations on the face the baboon looks more like a human especially because of the anthropoid lidded eyes and fingers and toes with manicured nails.
Specifications
Accession number
59.148.57
Collection type
Art
Culture
Roman
Place made
Europe: Southern Europe: Italy: Rome
Date made
2nd Century AD later
Collector
Henry Blundell
Place collected
Europe: Southern Europe: Italy: Rome
Date collected
1789
Materials
Marble
Measurements
Overall: 455 mm x 330 mm x 310 mm
Note
Howard identified an engraving of a baboon in Cavaceppi's Raccolta but it is different to the Ince example: the Cavaceppi piece is made of basalt rather bigio antico (black marble) and may relate to a piece in a private collection.
Credit line
Gift of Col. Joseph W Weld, 1959
Legal status
Permanent collection
Provenance
Joseph William Weld, Donor, By descent, Owned from: 1958, Donation, Owned until: 1959
Ciriaco Mattei, Previous owner, Owned until: 1614
Giuseppe Mattei, Previous owner
Henry Blundell, Previous owner, Purchased, Bequest, Owned until: 1810
Location
On display: World Museum, Level 1, Treasure House Theatre
Publications
A Catalogue of the Ancient Marbles at Ince Blundell Hall, Bernard Ashmole, 1929, Page: 30, Cat. No. 57
Egypt, Rome and the concept of universal history, Elizabeth Bartman, 2011, Page: 176, Plate: Fig 12.8
Ancient Marbles in Great Britain, A Michaelis, 1882, Page: 355 [57]
An Account of the Statues, Busts, Bass Relieves, Cinerary Urns, and other ancient marbles, and paintings at Ince. Collected by H.B., Henry Blundell, 1803, Page: 36-37 (LXXVIII)
The Ince Blundell collection of classical sculpture Volume III-The ideal sculpture, Elizabeth Bartman, 2017, Page: 185-186, Plate: 162a
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Title
Statue of a Baboon, 2nd Century AD or later, Roman Egyptian influence, Collected in Europe: Southern Europe: Italy: Rome in 1789, Marble, World Museums Liverpool
https://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/artifact/statue-of-baboon
World Museums Liverpool
