Ca. 1550 - 1077 BC. New Kingdom. A sculpture of three baboons. The trio sits upon a long and thick plinth. Each baboon is shown seated, and the middle one is slightly taller than the rest. They have well-modelled legs and faces, and their bodies are decorated with incised stokes to represent the fur. The baboon was an important animal to the Egyptians. Perhaps chiefly, they were a sacred animal of Thoth, the god of knowledge and wisdom. They were also a symbol of sun worship because baboons often howl at the rising dawn sun, and this was seen by the Egyptians as prayer-like. They had practical functions in Egyptian society too, often being used more as date-pickers on farms and even as an ancient equivalent to our police dogs.Size: L:80mm / W:135mm ; 645gFrom a London private family collection; formerly acquired on the UK art market in the 1960s - 1970s; thence by descent.