Metropolitan Museum of Art — Egyptian Art (Open Access) · jewelry

Sow Amulet

Source of record: Metropolitan Museum of Art — Egyptian Art (Open Access) — catalogued by the holding institution. View the original record →

Description

Faience

AI image analysis claude-haiku-4-5

Machine-generated from the object's image on May 2026. Not curatorial; treat deities, names, and signs below as the model's best reading, not authority.

A small green faience amulet depicting a sow or pig in profile, with characteristic hatching or feathered texturing on the body, mounted on a rectangular base.

This small sculptural amulet exhibits excellent preservation of fine faience material with a distinctive verdigris patina characteristic of ancient copper-based compositions. The piece depicts a swine or sow in a resting or recumbent position, rendered in profile view. The animal is distinguished by clearly articulated anatomical features including a defined snout, eye inlay (likely shell or stone), and a notably decorated body surface with diagonal hatching or feather-like incisions that may represent bristles or fur. The figure's front legs extend forward while the rear portion compresses toward the rectangular base, which serves both structural and formal purposes. The three-dimensional modeling demonstrates careful attention to animal anatomy typical of Egyptian decorative and amulet sculpture. The green faience shows patination and minor wear consistent with ancient use and burial conditions.

decorative Third Intermediate Period–Late Period good
Materials faience

Cross-references (4)

  • Wikidata-Q Q116408102 tier-1
  • Collection-QID Q160236 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
  • Inventory-Number 2021.41.11 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
  • MET-Object 329776 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
About this record's data
  • From the source institution — accession, description, dimensions, and dating are as catalogued by Metropolitan Museum of Art — Egyptian Art (Open Access).
  • AI-inferred — the image-analysis panel (deities, names, signs) is machine-generated and may be wrong.
  • Approximate location — most map points are plotted at the site centroid, not the exact findspot.
  • Inferred links — cross-references marked with a match method other than explicit-source-field were matched by us, not stated by the source.