DRAG IMAGE TO ROTATE ARTWORK
Figure group of Pataikos on crocodiles
Late Period 664 BCE-332 BCE
Medium
faience
Measurements
6.9 × 5.4 × 3.0 cm
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Accessioned, 1982
© Public Domain
Gallery location
18th Century Decorative Arts - Great Hall Costume Corridor
Level 2, NGV International
About this work
This little amuletic figure group shows the deity Pataikos, who may have represented a form of the god Ptah. Wearing a scarab beetle on his head and with falcons on each shoulder, Pataikos stands upon the snouts of two crocodiles, throttling a snake in each hand. He is flanked by protective goddesses, possibly Isis and Nephthys, with a third goddess behind him. This arrangement is a powerful representation of these deities being able to overcomet he threat of wild animals. Such a figure group would have been erected either publicly or privately. Water would have been poured over it and imbibed, thus magically transferring the protective power of the deities to the individual.
Artwork Details
Place/s of Execution
Egypt
Accession Number
D85-1982
Department
Antiquities
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of Digitisation Champion Ms Carol Grigor through Metal Manufactures Limited