Ancient Animals

This fish was collected from the area of Saqqara, Egypt. It is a representation of a Nile Perch. The Nile Perch was thought by Egyptians to symbolize resurrection and rebirth, as this fish carries their eggs in the mouth until hatching. This pottery fish is also filled with small pellets and was most likely used as a rattle.

The elephant shown here is one of many Zuns (wine vessel) from the Shang Dynasty. It was found in the Hunan province but is the only one with a known exact location. While the image as a whole is of an elephant, there also inner-laying designs of dragons, tigers, and phoenixes. The Zun would be filled with wine in the center and poured from the trunk. The decorative art inlaid makes this piece a unique treasure from the Shang Dynasty.

This vessel is a South American artifact from the Chorrera Culture, who are known for their ceramics featuring animal and plant effigy. The frog here most likely symbolizes water, rain, and fertility. Frogs also announced the coming of the rainier seasons which were a time of abundance.

This mummified cat is one of many that existed in the Egyptian period. Cats were a sacred animal, and were often mummified and presented to their goddesses Bastet and Pakhet in hopes that the souls of their deities would reside in the animals.

This bird shown is a bronze casting from the Middle Eastern Zhou dynasty. This is a great representation of the craftsmen's techniques moving toward a pattern block. Which would be applied to the model with clay before casting. The text inlaid reads as, "the gentleman's esteemed bird."

This dog is from Early Intermediate Period found in Peru. It was made in the Moche culture, an agriculturally based society. The spotted dog is a reccuring character in Moche art usually accompanying the mythological hero Ai Apaec, travelling with him between worlds.

This owl is part of an old Roman collection of marble figures and is thought to have been used as a business sign. Usually, owls hold a negative connotation, and were thought to have connections to the deceased. Inscribed here however is: Archates Petrios, fortune teller, will predict the future for four as. This implies the owl to be an all knowing figure and perhaps could foresee events to come. This however is strange considering this is an Egyptian belief of owls. Perhaps Archates had dabbled in their culture.

This bear is an ocarina found in Santa Marta, Colombia. In fact, the figure is meant to represent not an actual bear, but a man in a bear costume. This is one of many human representations by the Taironas. We are lucky to have these representations as the figures long outlast the costumes they show.

This snake is one of many African reptilian figures found in Mali. Since many of these exist, it is believed that the people of this region worshiped these reptiles and are also found in sculptures, decorative motifs, and even combined with human figures.