Asian & International Fine Arts Auction 2016-07-31
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 7/30/2016
VERY RARE MUMMIFIED BABOON HAND
The practice of mummification has been performed for thousands of years throughout the world from South America to Asia, but of course the most famous mummies are those of ancient Egypt. Most often associated with important personages, mummification was also performed on certain animals important to the Egyptian people, either as pets or as representations of the gods, or simply as food for the deceased in the afterlife. Baboons were significant in this culture as representations of Thoth, one of the most important deities in the Egyptian pantheon, god of the Moon and of wisdom. He was frequently represented with the head of an ibis, or that of a baboon. Not being native to Egypt, baboons were imported at great cost during the New Kingdom and unsuccessfully bred as ritual animals. Baboons were bred specifically for their religious significance and sacred troops accompanied nobility in the afterlife as they were considered vessels for the gods to inhabit. Although the provenance of the present specimen has been lost, it has been identified as the left hand of a baboon, with the characteristic hessian cartonnage. Where the covering is missing, the blackened skin is exposed, adding to the evocative effect, as do the curving fingers. The two middle fingers show exposed distal phalange bones, and at the wrist, part of the lunate bone protrudes amidst the straw-like tufts of desiccated flesh; 6 1/4" long and 2 1/2" wide
$2,500 - 3,000\n