Seated Statue 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: 47 1/2 in. (120.7 cm); W: 26 1/4 in. (66.7 cm); Depth: 20 1/4 in. (51.4 cm)

MediumGranodiorite

ClassificationSculpture

Credit LineGift of Miss Edith Morgan

Object number

1927.154

On View

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

DescriptionThe best preserved of the trio (1927.152, 1927.153), this granodiorite statue (1927.154) depicts Sekhmet seated with her left hand grasping an ankh and her right resting on her knee. She wears a broad collar but, unlike 1927.152 and 1927.153, lacks the decorative band beneath the breasts. The solar disk, once slotted into a mortise at the top of her head, is now missing. A pillar-back supports her form, and the front face of her seat preserves hieroglyphic inscriptions. Viewed alongside fragments 1927.152 and 1927.153, this complete example helps reconstruct the standard iconography and temple function of Sekhmet statues commissioned by Amenhotep III.

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, v.14, no.10 October 1919, Part II, p.1-23, gives full particulars regarding such statues.

Luckner, Kurt T., "The Art of Egypt, Part 2," Toledo Museum of Art Museum News, New Series, vol. 14, no.3, Fall 1971, p. 60, repr. fig. 2.

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.