BOTHMER - A Predynastic Egyptian Hippopotamus

7/28/2019 BOTHMER - A Predynastic Egyptian Hippopotamus

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A Predynastic Egyptian Hippopotamus

Author(s): Bernard V. BothmerReviewed work(s):Source: Bulletin of the Museum of Fine Arts, Vol. 46, No. 265 (Oct., 1948), pp. 64-69Published by: Museum of Fine Arts, BostonStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4171017 .

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XLVI,64 BULLETINOF THE MUSEUMOF FINE ARTS

4f* i4 %i t fi At ' K gAA Ak%aj;

The woe inscrib a t , _ aalbu

The twoencomiumsnscribedat the endof the albumname Lu Shu-sheng, he third son of Lu Hsin-yuan. Some time later the albumpassed nto thecelebratedcollectionof the Viceroy Tuan Fang(1861-191 ), according o the labelson the albuminscribedby ChangTsu-i in 1909.1 The label onthe wrapperstates that the album "was ownedformerly by Tuan Wu-ch'iao(Tuan Fang) andnow it belongs to T'ien-hsi-shuang-peiKuan."2Recentlyit has becomeone of the valuedposses-sionsof this Museum. KoJIRoTOMITA.A. KAIMING HIU.

I It mav be supposed that the remounting of the album took place in1909 at which time the order of some of the leaves was changed from thatdescribed in Lu Hsin-yuan's catalogue.2 This may possibly be the studio name of Chang Tsu-i.

A Predynastic EgyptianHippopotamus"The wonderful hippopotamus!The only one ever in America!"T HIS bold statementis foundprintedon thecover of John Petherick's delightful littlestudy A Full andInterestingAccountof theGreatHippopotamus:From the White Nile (Boston:J. H. & F. F. Farwell,1861), and, no doubt, theauthormeant it seriously,considering he cost ofbringing the first live hippopotamus to thiscountry. Since then others have followed,notonly in the flesh,but also in effigy. One of thelatterspecieshas recentlybeenaddedto the Mu-seum's collections of predynasticobjects fromEgypt. It is uniqueand in a way would have

been worthy Mr. Petherick's exalted excla-mation.1

The potterystatuette(Fig. 1) showsa standinghippopotamusn its mostancientmodeofrepresen-tation. Fourbarrel-shapedegs,withoutindica-tion of the feet, supportthe curved, rather orm-less body. The head is squareandflat. Merelythenostrils,the eyes,and the little earswhicharelaid back modify its geometric shape. Towardthe mouth, the thickness of the head increases,and there is a shallow groove at the muzzleas ifthe sculptorhadintended o markthe separationof upper and lowerjaws. The two legs of eachpairare set wellapart,a featurenot muchnotice-able in front becauseof the bulk of the massivehead. The hindquarters re adornedby a shortpointed tail.The base (Fig. 8. Drawing by Miss SuzanneE. Chapman) s approximately ectangular. Atthe front two roundedprotuberances urve up.Oneachsideof the animal he base hasfourholes,threeof which arespacedbetween the hind andfrontlegs while the fourth pierces he base of thetwoprojectingpieces. Thefirst-mentionedhreeholesrunthroughthe basevertically;the fourthhole is placed at an angle. All holes had beenmadeafter the shapingof the base had been fin-ished and while the clay was still wet. Invar-iably the openingof the holes is smaller on theunderside of the base;this as well as the raisedrim aroundeach hole on the uppersiderevealtheconcentric movement with which the ancientcraftsman used his stick when he pierced thebase.Thewayin whichthe statuette wasformedcanstill be traced,despitethe smoothfinishof back,flanks, and head of the animal. Apparentlyitwas cut out of a flat piece of clay, all four legsbeingspreadapart,and then bent into its presentshape. The head is hollowunderneath,and sois the body. The flanksweremerelybentunder,and the legs were roundedout and joined to the

I Acc. No. 48.252. Gift of Mrs. Charles Gaston Smith's Group.Formerly in the collection of Dr. F. R. Martin of Stockholm, Sweden, whobought the statuette in Egypt in 1903. Provenance not known. Height(with base) 13.7 cm., length of the animal 26 cm., width 9 cm.; length ofthe base 29.6 cm.. greatest width 17.3 cm.. average thickness 2.2 cm.


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Fig.1. Hippopotamus,ottery EarlyPredynasticGiftof Mrs.CharlesGaston mith'sGroupbase with a few finger trokeswhichhaveleft theirtell-talemarksto this day.'

In its presentcondition he figurehas a surfacevarying n color froma light muddytan to pink,red, and a dark shiny brown. The underside ofthe baseis brick-red, naturalresultof the firingprocess. The tracesofredandbrownon the bodyof the hippopotamusat first suggestedthat theanimal had been painted. However, a detailedexaminationby Mr. WilliamJ. Young,Head ofthe ResearchLaboratoryof the Museumof FineArts, revealedthat all coloredmatterwas of thesame compositionas the clay properand that itsappearances also a resultof the firing process.The lackof silicates n the discoloredparts of thesurfaceshows that the little figurewas not cov-eredby a glaze,but only by a slipof dilutedclaywhich, in all probability,was appliedwhen thepiece was almost dry. Thus, the red and dark-brown coloring s solely due to the extrusionofferrousoxidein the clay during he courseof thefairlylowfiring. In the beginning,however, hestatuette must have been fired rapidlyas indi-cated by the blackened carbonized)corevisibleon the chippededgesof the base.The general mpressiongainedfrom the statu-ette is oneof primitive orcewhichalonepointsto

its predynasticorigin,and this attribution s alsosupportedby the techniqueof themodeling. Thestatuette is far removedfrom the alert rigidityfound in the hippopotamiof the early dynasticperiod, and it has nothingwhatsoever n commonwith the figurinesdatedto the Middle Kingdom(Fig. 2)2 which are well known for their colorfulglaze and plant ornamentspainted on the body.From the New Kingdomonly one crude potterystatuette of a hippopotamushas been reportedwhich does not at all resemble he Boston piece.3I also know of only one representationrom theLate Periodwhich s, however,made of limestone

I The modern ceramic sculptor sometimes still employs the samesimple method of modeling: see: Ruth H. Randall, CeramicSculpture(NewYork, 1948), p. 27, fig. 8 which shows the flattened piece of clay, the paperpattern with the help of which the hippopotamus is being cut, and the fin-ished statuette. The author explains in the caption that "the legs arebent into tubular forms and the head and body left open on the underside." I owe this reference as well as some technical information to thekindness of Mr. Norman Arsenault. Head of the Ceramics Department ofthe School of the Museum of Fine Arts and Director of the PotteryWorkshop of Boston.

I The best example of this type is found in the Ny Carlsberg Glyp-tothek at Copenhagen; see: Otto Koefoed-Petersen, in From theCollectionsof the Ny CarlsbergGlyltothek 2 (1938), pp. 53-64; Vagn Poulsen Skulp-turboken Stockholm, 1947), p. 25 and pl. 2. Another piece of the sameperiod is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art at New York (M.M.A.03.4.1) from Abydos; see: F. Petrie, Abydos II (London, 1903), p. 27and pi. X, 226.From the Old Kingdom only one specimen is known, made of wood,which is now in the Cairo Museum; see: E. Chassinat, in FondationEugene Piot, Monuments et Memoires 25 (1921-1922), p. 64.2 Left: M.F.A. 20.1118; length 4.7 cm., height 2.7 cm.; from ElBersheh (Reisner's tomb no. 19A); ultramarine blue glaze with two lightblue spots on either side of the body.Right: M.F.A. 13.4121; length 7.7 cm., height 3.5 cm.; from Kerma(debris of K 1001; see: G. A. Reisner, Kerma 1-111, p. 315; Kerma IV-V,p. 173); blue glaze, with plant ornament in black.There are, however, some made of limestone from that period; see:Keimer, in Revuede l'Egypte ancienne 2 (1929), p. 225 fig. 19;G. A. Reisner,Models of Ships and Boats (Le Caire, 1913), pls. XIX and XXIV: Keimer,in Annales du Service des Antiquitlesde l'Egypte 42 (1943), pp. 274-276 figs.55-56; G. Caton Thompson and E. W. Gardner, The Desert Fayum (Lon-don, 1934). p. 139(Q. S. 16), pi. LXXXIV, 5.The Turin Museum has several small, roughly formed pottery hip-popotamus statuettes from its excavations at Assiut; see: G. Farina, IIR. Muse,) di Antichita di Torino,Sezione Egizia, 2d ed. (Roma, 1938), p. 21.A fine Middle Kingdom hippopotamus of alabaster with base is in theMetropolitan Museum of Art (M.M.A. 20.2.25); see: Ancient EgyptianAnimals, A Picture Book (New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art,1942), fig. 19.3 H. Frankfort and J. D. S. Pendlebury, The City of Akhenaten, part11(London, 1933), pl. XL, 8.


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XLVI, 66 BULLETINOF THE MUSEUMOF FINE ARTS

Fig. 2. Hippopotami. aience MiddleKingdomBoston(Fig. 3, in Avignon)'andcontinues hecharacter-istic featuresof the type of statuetteevolveddur-ingthe MiddleKingdom.The long range of prehistoric imes in Egypthas been divided into the Tasian, Badarian,Early Predynastic (Naqada I), Middle Pre-dynastic (Naqada II), and Late Predynasticperiods,and lackinginformationas to the prov-enanceof the Bostonhippopotamust wouldseemdifficult o assignit to any particularprehistoric

epoch, especiallysince in very early times thestyle of sculpturepresentsstill considerable ari-ations. Yet it appearspossibleto place ourstat-uette withina rangeof not morethanthreehun-dredyearsby assigning t to roughly he firsthalfof the earlypredynasticperiod Naqada I) whichisgenerallyassumed o havelastedfromca. 4000-3500 B.C. Several factors render this datingvery likely. The hippopotamus s, during theNaqadaI period, he mostfrequently epresentedanimal,Iandseveralpieces of animalsculpture npottery have beenfound in tombs dated to thisperiodby archaeologicalmeans2and have to beI Published by kind permission of M. Joseph Girard, Conservateur duMusee Calvet. Avignon (Vaucluse). It is made of limestone; length 39cm., width 12.5 cm. The provenance is unknown; it was brought fromEgypt in 1820 and is registered under number A 48. For the dating ofthis piece(mainly based on the treatment of thelegs, worked threequartersin the round between which the stone has not been cut away, and of the

head under which the original stone has been left standing), see the lime-stone falcon in the Louvre (TEL, Encyclopedic photographiquede I'art,tome 1. pl. 133; Boreux. Guide-catalogue ommaire, p. 332). the slate lionin Vienna (H. Demel, Agyptische Kunst. Wien, 1947. pl. 38). the serpentineichneumon in Vienna (Ic., pi. 39), and on a larger scale the Hapy bull fromthe Serapeum in the Louvre (Boreux, Ic., pp. 168169. pl. XX).

I Cf. Elise J. Baumgartel, ThcCultures of Prehistoric Egypt (London1947), p. 30.

2 Petrie's Sequence Dates (hereafter abbreviated S.D.) as set forth in:Flinders Petrie, Diospolis Parca (London, 1901). pp. 4-12; and in: FlindersPetrie, Prehistoric Egypt (London, 1920), pp. 3-4. The Naqada I periodcovers S.D. 30-38.

Fig. 3. Hippopotamus,imestone Late EgyptianPeriodAvignon


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BULLETINOF THE MUSEUMOF FINE ARTS XLVI, 67

Fig. 4. Hippopotamus,pottery EarlyPredynasticSaint-Germain-enLayetaken into account for comparison. All thesestatuettes, though not representinghippopotamibut various ypes of ruminantanimals,have baseslike the Boston figurine nd resemblet in size andtype of modeling. Two animals,usually calledcattle, on a base,fromEl Amrahand now in theAshmoleanMuseum at Oxford,' are dated toS.D. 33,2 and the British Museumhas in its col-lectionsa groupof four figuresof cattleon a standwhich likewise was found at El Amrah and isdated to S.D. 32.3 Though both objects aremade of unbaked clay, animal figures from anearliertomb (S.D. 31) at El Amrah were foundto be of pottery.4As to hippopotamus tatuettes, he Bostonpieceis the only one with its base preservedntact.Three more pottery hippopotamiof equal orlargersize are known of whichthe one from thecollection of Jacques de Morgan, now in theMusee des Antiquites Nationales, Chateau deSaint-Germain-en-Laye,s the most impressivespecimen Fig. 4).5 It is said to come from thevicinity of Tukh (Nubt)6 which appearsplausibleas this place lies in the neighborhood f Naqadaafterwhich the predynasticculturesof NaqadaIand II were named. I considerthe de Morganhippopotamus o be slightlyearlier hanthe Bos-ton statuette. The head is unnaturallyelon-gated, the eyes areplacedin the middle betweennostrils and ears, and the body itself does not

showany of the roundnesswhich s socharacter-istic of the animal and of which there is at leastsome indication n the Boston figure.The secondstatuette is in the possessionof theRoyal OntarioMuseumof Archaeology,Toronto,Canada (Fig. 5).1 The material is baked redclay which has beenmodeled n the same fashionas in our piece. The measurementsdifferfromthose of the Boston hippopotamusby not morethanone centimeter;he right foreleg s attachedto apieceof theoriginalbase with its curved rontcomer. Theproportion f the distancesbetweenearsand eyes, and eyesand nostrils,appears o bethe same as in ourstatuette, and as a finalpointof comparisonmay be addedthe distinctly con-caveoutlineof thebelly which s not foundonanyother statuettes of these animals. Such simi-larityis possibleonly if the two piecesweremadeat the same time and in the sameplace,and I donot hesitate to state that both must have beenmadeby the sameman. The provenanceof theTorontohippopotamuss not known.The lastexampleof a pottery hippopotamus fpredynastic imes is the largestatuette excavatedby Petrie at DiospolisParva and nowin the Ash-molean Museum.2 The tomb in which it wasfound is dated to S.D. 41 and thus falls into thebeginningof the Naqada II period (MiddlePre-dynastic). The style of this figureis consider-ably more advanced. The animalhas a roundbulkybody, very short stubby legs, a wide-openmouth which causes the skin on the neck to foldin heavy rolls, and the tusks in the upper awareindicated:a vivid likenessof the beast, but veryl Sir E. Denison Ross, The Art of Egypt Through he Ages (New York& London, 1931), p. 6, pl. 83; Jean Capart, Primitive Art in Egypt (London,1905), p. 188, fig. 148.2 D. Randall-Maclver and A. C. Mace, El Amrah and Abydos (Lon-don. 1902), pp. 16 and 60; cf. Flinders Petrie, Preshistoric Egypt, pl. LI.3Randall-Maclver, lc., pp. 16, 41, and 60, pl. IX, 1; cf. Petrie, lc.,pl. LI. British Museum, A Guide to the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth EgyptianRooms (London, 1922), p. 245 (35,506).4 Randall-Maclver, Ic., p. 41 (Grave b 212); cf. Petrie, Ic., pi. LI.5No. 77.718-f- see: J. de Mor an, Recherches sur les origines del'Egyptc (Paris, 1897). p. 128, fig. 413. Salomon Reinach, Catalogue il-lustre du Musie des AntiquitEsNationales, tome 11 (Paris, 1921). pp. 103-104. fig. 50. Length 36 cm., height 11cm., width 12cm. Published hereby kind permission of the curator, M. A. Varagnac.6 Porter and Moss, TopographicalBibliography, V. 117.

I Toronto B.1292. Published here by kind permission of the di-rector, Mr. Gerard Brett.2 Length 27 cm., width 14.8 cm., height 15.5 cm. Petrie, DiospolisParoa. pl. VI (R.134), p. 35. The S.D. is given in Petrie, PrehistoricEgypt, pl. LII. A pottery hippopotamus in the Cairo Museum (Journal26559), perhaps of the same date. is only inadequately published (Zeit-schriftffur agyptische Sprache 36, 1898, pp. 124-125), length 16 cm., height8.5 cm.; in style it resembles a small early dynastic faience hippopotamusin the Metropolitan Museum of Art (M.M.A. 44.4.11; from the J. P.Morgan coll.; length I I cm.).


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Fig. 5. Hippopotamus, ottery EarlyPredynasticToronto

unlike the earlier pieces which I have discussedbefore. This is the last piece of pottery sculpture(leaving aside the vases of fancy shape) done inpredynastic times. From then on, as A. Scharffhas pointed out,' sculpture in the round all butceased to exist in Egypt until its revival just be-fore Dynasty 1.2How close the connection is between hippopot-amus statuettes and the white cross-lined potteryof S.D. 32-34 (first half of the early predynasticperiod) is shown by several vases which havesmall hippopotamus figures on the rim and thetypical ornamentation of that style on the body ofthe vessel. A bowl found at El Mahasna and nowin the Manchester Museum:'has two pairs of theanimals walking on the edge in opposite direc-tions, and the zig-zag design is carried over fromthe vessel onto their bodies. Apparently all fourlegs of each animal aremodeled individually, whileon a vase in the Cairo Museum' two hippopotamiin the round are represented hugging the rim andfour of them are painted on the body of the vase.This leads us to another group of white cross-lined pottery from the first half of the Naqada Iperiod, without plastic decorations on the rim, inwhich the hippopotamus is drawn on the inside oroutside of the vessel. Figure 6 shows three hip-popotami in a circle on the interior of a deep bowlin the Museum of Fine Arts,` and another vase,also from Dr. Reisner's excavations,'i (Fig. 7) hasfour hippopotami and five crocodiles along withwater plants and fish on the outside. It is quite

remarkable n all these representationshow thepredynasticEgyptian craftsmanwas able to indi-cate the eyes and ears, the short tail, and the twopairs of stumpy little legs despite the schematicway in which he drew the animals. Of a laterdate are severalvases in the shape of a hippopot-amus;' these as well as theriomorphic tone andslate palettes,hippopotamus-shapedmulets,andtusk carvingsare additionalproofof the popular-ity this animalenjoyed n prehistoricEgypt.The combination of hippopotami and croco-diles, so frequently encountered on the whitecross-linedpottery of Naqada I, has its origin inthe aquatic surroundings n which both animalsdwell. But they are also brought into relationwith the human inhabitants of the Nile valley:more than half of the pottery paintings of thatperiod representingman show him as hunter ofthe hippopotamus,usually attacking it with aharpoon.2 This one has to keep in mind whentrying to explainthe meaningand purposeof theBoston statuette. Primitive man worshippedthat which nspiredhis fear, but since in this casehe representedhimself as the attacker the ideathat the statuette was created n order o appeasethe dangerousbeast is not valid. The figurewasmade for a burialand thus was meant to perpet-uate some conception or the owner of the gravein his life after death. The animal s representedon a sledge-likebase with curved front cornerswhich is similar to one in the reliefs of KingPepy II on which a bound hippopotamusisdragged,:and which reminds ne ofthe basessup-porting deities in animal form adorningcere-monial standards rom the Old Kingdomto theLate Period.At all times the hippopotamuswas hunted inEgypt because t yieldedmeat andfat, hide, andespecially uskswhichwereso usefulto man. Inhistoric times the hunt was considereda sportmuchpracticedby the nobles,but defeatingthehippopotamus ad also somereligious ignificanceas early as Dynasty I when King Wedymuwasrepresentedwrestlingwith, and harpooning,hip-popotami. It seemsto me that the Bostonstat-uette cannot be called anything but a huntingcharm n view of the obscurityof primeval imes.It may have had religiousconnotations,but ourknowledgeof the magicalbeliefs of that period sstill vagueandprobablywill never be veryexact.

I In: Handbuchder Archaologic, vol. I (Miinchen, 1939), p. 446.2 A small pottery hippopotamus was found by Petrie at Abydos(Abydos 11. pi. IX no. 188. p. 27). Dynasty 1.3S.D.34. E. R. Ayrton and W. L. S. Loat, Pre-dynastic Cemeteryat El Mahasna 'London, 1911). pp. 11. 26-27. pl. XI, 3; Egypt Explora-tion Fund, ArchaeologicalReport 1908-1909. frontispiece; T. E. Peet, in:Journal of Egyptian Archaeology2 (1915). p. 90, pi. XII fig. 2.4M. Quibell, Archaic Objects(Le Caire, 1904). p. 120 no. 11570,

pi. 24; ZeitschriftfJuragyptische Sprache 61 (1926). pl. 11 fig. 1.5 Acc. No. 11.312; height 6.8 cm., width 19.4 cm.; from Dr. Reisner'sexcavations at Mesaeed (Nag'el Masa'id, on the east bank of the Nile.opposite Girga). tomb no. 26; W. S. Smith, Ancient Egypt (Boston, 1946),p. 15 fig. 1; cf. G. A. Reisner. The Developmentof the Egyptian Tombdowento the Accession of Cheops (Cambridge, Mass., 1936). Appendix A.6 At Naga-ed-Der, tomb no. 7129; now in the Cairo Museum. Analmost identical vase with four hippopotami and six crocodiles is in theMetropolitan Museum of Art (M.M.A. 12.182.14).

I British School of Archaeology in Egypt, Studies. vol. II (London,1911). p. 42. G. Brunton and C. Caton-Thompson, The Badarian Civili-zation (London. 1928). p. 54; pis. XLVIII, 3 and LIV, 5. F. W. v.Bissing Tongefassc (Vienne, 1913). pp. 37-38, pl. V (Cairo 2147). To-ronto, Royal Ontario Museum of Archaeology, no. B. 1293 (unpublished).2 See the references cited by Petrie, Prchistoric Egypt. p. 16 col. 2("Man"); also Ayrton-Loat, lc.. pl. XXVII; an unpublished vessel in theMetropolitan Museum of Art (M.M.A. 35.10) with crocodile, hippo-potamus, and hunter.3 G. Jequier, Le manumcntifun&rairc e Pepi 11, tome III (Le Caire.1940), p. 21, pi. 32-34.Cf. also the hippopotamus base with curved front end in a relief ofTuthmosis III at Karnak: Annales du Scrvicedes Antiquitls dc l'Egyptc 42(1943). pp. 272-273.4 W. S. Smith, A History of Sculpturc and Painting in the Old King-dom (Boston, 1946), p. 122, fig. 39.


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Fig. 6. White Cross-linedPottery BowlEarlyPredynasticBostonOnemoreunique featureof the potteryhippo-potamushas to be mentionedhere: the two rowsof holes on the base on eitherside of the animalwhichweremadewhentheclaywas still wet(Fig.8). They are without parallel, and nothingmore than a tentative explanation can be ven-tured. On an Egyptian relief, variously attrib-uted to the OldKingdom,MiddleKingdom,andNew Kingdom,whichwas foundsomeyearsagobuiltinto the mediaevalwalls of Cairo,2a hippo-potamus sshownstandingona plainbase markedwith severalverticallines which in Egyptianre-lief usually indicate reed-matting. The faiencefigurines f the MiddleKingdom Fig. 2) bear ontheirbackpaintingsof the swamp flora,:' nd thefragmentof a faiencevessel of thesameperiodde-picts the hippopotamuswalkingamidstthe lushvegetationof its natural surroundings.4 There-fore, I think, reeds or some otheraquatic plantswere meantto be stuck into the holes in order orender he aspect of the hippopotamus tatuette

_4/-i

Fig. 8. SchematicDrawingof Base of Pottery Hippo-potamusin Boston(legs removed)more natural, but it must be stressed that no ex-ample of such a custom has ever been recordedfrom burials of predynastic Egypt and this inter-pretation cannot be anything but a theory for thetime being.Its unusual features and interesting subject ren-der our pottery statuette most appealing, and inview of its great age the excellent preservation iseven more amazing. Millennia have passed sincethis hippopotamus was created, its charm is stillextant in a different world, no damage has harmedit, or in the words of Sir Thomas Browne: "Timewhich antiquates antiquities has yet spared thisminor monument. BERNARDV. BOTHMER.

IThey have nothing to do with the holes on top of the hippopotamustusk amulets (Joturnal of Egyptian Archaeology 13. 1927, pi. LV no. 3;W. S. Smith. Ancient Egypt. p. 17 fig. 4) which probably served for tyingdown a cover; see: Sir Robert Mond and Oliver H. Myers, CemeteriesofArmant 1. pp. 38-39.2 Ant;quity. A QuarterlyReview of Archaeology 9 (1935). p. 350, pi.VIII. Chroniquje 'Egypte 11 (1936). pp. 468-469.3Rccue de rEgyplc ancicnnc 2 (1929). pp. 210-253: 3 (1931), pp.36-414 M.F.A. 20.1266; G. A. Reisner. Kerma I-Ill. p. 392 no. 142;Kerma IV-V. p. 167 no. 142 and pi. 45 no. 9.

A Drawing by Blake, RestoredAMONG the Blake watercolorsromthe Buttsand Strangecollectionswhichthe Museumacquiredby gift in 1890a drawingof AbrahamPreparing o SacrificeIsaac always seemedout-wardly the least attractive. Small in size (758x 9%/2n.), it was largely obscured by a heavycoating of varnish no doubt applied by Blakehimself' -and it was also laid down on bothcardboard and paper. This varnished surface,now badly yellowed and scratched, concealedmany details of foregroundand background,muchof the figure modelling, and all the original colors(Fig. 1). Rossetti, in his descriptive catalogueappended to Gilchrist's Life, noted after seeingthe drawing that it was "very highly varnished allover into tone;" and even then so monochromatic

I "One extrinsic circumstance materially detracts from the appearanceof this (Jane Shore) and other water-colour drawings from his hand of theperiod: viz, that as a substitute for glass, they were all eventually, in prose-cution of a hobby of Blake's. varnished- of which process applied to awater-colour drawing, nothing can exceed the disenchanting, not to saydestructive effect." Gilchrist, Life of William Blake, 1863, v. I., p. 31.

Al

Fig. 7. Four Views of Vase fromNaga-ed-Der EarlyPredynasticCairo

BOTHMER - A Predynastic Egyptian Hippopotamus

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