Torso of the Goddess Sekhmet

Place of OriginEgypt, possibly from the Temple of Mut at Karnak

Date18th Dynasty (1550-1292 BCE), about 1397-1360 BCE

DimensionsH: 25 in. (63.5 cm)

MediumGranodiorite

ClassificationSculpture

Credit LineGift of Miss Edith Morgan

Object number

1927.153

On View

Toledo Museum of Art (2445 Monroe Street), Gallery, 02, Classic

DescriptionThis granodiorite torso fragment of Sekhmet resembles 1927.152 in composition but is more fragmentary, with damage to the left upper arm, right shoulder, and left ear. The mortise hole for the now-missing sun disk remains at the crown of the head. Like 152, it features a broad collar and a decorative band beneath the breasts—both absent in the more complete statue 1927.154. The form and posture suggest it was originally seated and supported by a rear pillar. This sculpture, along with 1927.152 and 1927.154, belongs to a typologically consistent group of Sekhmet statues, likely installed together as temple guardians.

Label TextToledo's three monumental sculptures of Sekhmet (1927.152, 1927.153, and 1927.154) once stood among hundreds of similar statues at the Temple of Mut in Karnak, ancient Thebes. Commissioned by Pharaoh Amenhotep III (ca. 1390–1352 BCE), the statues portrayed Sekhmet, the lion-headed goddess feared for her destructive force and revered for her healing power. Carved from hard stone and originally positioned in symmetrical rows around a sacred lake, they served as votive offerings and ritual instruments. Most bore the king’s name, linking royal authority with divine protection. These three statues entered the Toledo Museum of Art in 1927 as a gift from Edith Pierrepont Morgan (1873–1951) of Aurora, New York. Though the circumstances of their acquisition remain uncertain, Edith’s brother, Frederick Grinnell Morgan (1866–1920), served as U.S. Vice Consul in Cairo in 1905. It is possible—though unconfirmed—that the statues came into the family's possession during that period.Published References

Bulletin of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, October 1919, Part II, gives full particulars on such statues.

Peck, William H., Sandra E. Knudsen and Paula Reich, Egypt in Toledo: The Ancient Egyptian Collection at the Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, Toledo Museum of Art, 2011, p. 62, repr. (det., col.) pp. 16, 62.

Comparative ReferencesSee also Simpson, William Kelly, "A Horus-of-Nekhen Statue of Amenhotep III from Soleb," Bulletin Museum of Fine Arts Boston, vol. 69, no. 358, 1971, p. 160 and note 14, p. 164.

cf. Lythgoe, A.M., "Statues of the Goddess Sekhmet," Bulletin of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, vol. 14, no. 10, Oct. 1919, pt. 2, pp. 1-23.

cf. "Egyptian Antiquities," Bulletin Museum of Fine Arts Boston, vol. 1, no. 3, 1903, p. 17.

cf. Smith, WIlliam Stevenson, Ancient Egypt as represented in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 4th ed., Boston, 1960, p. 130, fig. 81.

cf. Fine antiquities including the Mrs. Albert D. Lasker Collection, London, Christies, Dec. 12, 1990, no. 230.