Statuette of a Sphinx from a Barque Standard

CC0 Public Domain Designation

Third Intermediate Period, late Dynasty 21–Dynasty 22, about 984–715 BCE

Egyptian

The creature here combines a ferocious lion’s body with a king’s head to form a divine guardian called a sphinx. Small metal sphinxes like this one were affixed to barques (boats) that carried the cult statues of gods and goddesses when they were brought out of their temples during religious festivals. Here, two rearing cobras flank the sphinx’s paws to help it ward off threats to the deity whose statue was set in a shrine at the center of the barque, shielded from view.

Status: On View, Gallery 50
Department: Arts of Africa

Culture: Ancient Egyptian
Title: Statuette of a Sphinx from a Barque Standard
Place: Egypt (Object made in)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: Made 984 BCE–715 BCE
Medium: Copper alloy
Dimensions: 21.8 × 3.1 × 16.6 cm (8 9/16 × 1 3/16 × 6 1/2 in.)
Credit Line: Purchased with funds provided by Norman W. Harris, Robert H. Fleming, Henry H. Getty, and Charles L. Hutchinson
Reference Number: 1894.257
IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.: https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/130025/manifest.json

Thomas George Allen, A Handbook of the Egyptian Collection (Chicago: The Art Institute of Chicago, 1923), pp. 106-107 (ill.).
Günther Roeder, Ägyptische Bronzefiguren (Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, 1956), p. 368, §482b, fig. 516, p. 390, §522b, p. 421, §580h, pp. 449-50, §614c.
Roberta Casagrande-Kim, ed., When the Greeks Ruled Egypt: From Alexander the Great to Cleopatra. Exh. cat. (New York: Institute for the Study of the Ancient World; Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2014), p. 104, cat. 126.

“Art Institute of Chicago, Ancient Art Galleries, Gallery 154A, April 20, 1994 - February 6, 2012.
Art Institute of Chicago, When the Greeks Ruled: Egypt After Alexander the Great, October 31, 2013 - July 27, 2014; traveled to New York, NY, Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, October 8, 2014 - January 4, 2015.
Art Institute of Chicago, Life and Afterlife in Ancient Egypt, Feb. 11, 2022 - present.

The Art Institute of Chicago, acquired in 1894; price reimbursed by Norman W. Harris, Robert H. Fleming, Henry H. Getty, and Charles L. Hutchinson.

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

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IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.

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IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.