What was the blue hippo made of?
faience
This statuette of a hippopotamus (popularly called “William”) was molded in faience, a ceramic material made of ground quartz. Beneath the blue glaze, the body was painted with lotuses.
Who made William the faience hippopotamus?
artist Carl Walters
In the installation William was juxtaposed with a ceramic hippo created about four thousand years later by the American artist Carl Walters and acquired by the American Wing in 2017.
What does the blue hippo symbolize?
The color blue was very special for the ancient Egyptians. Real hippos are of course not blue, but mainly grey or brown. Blue was the color of the Nile River, where hippos lived. The Nile was a main source of life for the Egyptians, so among other things this bright blue symbolized life.
What is French faience?
Faience is the term for tin-glazed earthenware made in France from the late sixteenth century until the end of the eighteenth century. The pieces were either thrown on a potter’s wheel and formed in a mold, or, less frequently, shaped by hand.
How do you make faience blue?
Faience is a glazed non-clay ceramic material, composed mainly of crushed quartz or sand, with small amounts of lime and either natron or plant ash. The characteristic blue colour of Egyptian faience comes from a copper compound added to this mixture. Once fired, a thick glaze forms on the surface.
What did ancient Egyptians call hippos?
hippopotami
Ritual enactments of this story were recorded in about 100 B.C. on the walls of the temple of Edfu. These scenes show Horus, who is often depicted together with the king, harpooning Seth in the shape of a hippopotamus. But the ancient Egyptians also recognized hippopotami as positive creatures.
When was the blue hippo made?
The figurine was made in the 12th Dynasty (c. 1961-1878 BC) and was placed with another in a tomb. Measuring just 11.2cm in height and 20cm in length, the bright, blue faience hippopotamus has a well-rounded body and stumpy legs.
What is a French faience plate?
What was the Colour of faience?
turquoise blue color
Although faience was made in a range of bright colors, the turquoise blue color so characteristic of the material is created with copper. During the firing process, the alkali (acting as a flux) and the lime (acting as a stabilizer) react with the silica in the core to form a glaze on the surface.
What god did hippos represent?
1550–1070 B.C.) on, the hippopotamus was connected to the god Seth, and in later times Seth was seen as an evil character. The god Horus was the mythological prototype of the king, and in the myth of Horus and Seth, Horus defeats Seth and ascends the throne they had battled over.
Why was the blue faience hippopotamus so popular?
Blue faience hippopotamus was a popular statuette in Ancient Egyptian art. Ancient Egyptians considered it to have positive traits associated with fertility and rebirth. Also, little hippopotamus statuettes were found among the objects buried in tombs.
How many blue hippopotamus statuettes are there?
Varying in size from 9 to 23 centimeters in length, are now scattered around the world. There are around 50-60 blue faience hippopotamus statuettes which survived to our times. We tried to find the most beautiful of them and present them here for you.
What is the name of the hippopotamus in the Metropolitan Museum?
His name is William. Blue Faience Hippopotamus (aka William), ca. 1961–1878 BCE, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA. William is so popular among the visitors of The Met, where he has lived since 1917, that he’s even become the museum’s mascot.
What is the significance of the hippopotamus in ancient Egypt?
Ancient Egyptians considered it to have positive traits associated with fertility and rebirth. Also, little hippopotamus statuettes were found among the objects buried in tombs. Varying in size from 9 to 23 centimeters in length, are now scattered around the world.