Collection
/
Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

Figure of an Ibis

664–332 B.C.E.

Brooklyn Museum photograph

Caption

Figure of an Ibis, 664–332 B.C.E.. Glass, 11/16 × 3/8 × 11/16 in. (1.7 × 1 × 1.7 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 08.480.91. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.08.480.91_view1.jpg)

Gallery

Not on view

Title

Figure of an Ibis

Date

664–332 B.C.E.

Period

Late Period

Medium

Glass

Classification

Accessory

Dimensions

11/16 × 3/8 × 11/16 in. (1.7 × 1 × 1.7 cm)

Credit Line

Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund

Accession Number

08.480.91

Rights

Creative Commons-BY

You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.

Frequent Art Questions

  • Any idea how this was made?

    This little ibis would have been made in a mold. Very hot glass would have been pressed into an ibis-shaped mold where it cooled and maintained the shape.
    The ibis was an important and symbolic animal in ancient Egypt and the molded glass technique allowed figures to made even smaller and thus even more portable!
    Interesting! Thank you.

  • Tell me more.

    In the ancient world, glass was often used as a cheaper alternative to precious stones. This ibis amulet in blue glass was meant to imitate lapis lazuli, one of the most prized materials in the ancient Near East and Egypt.
    This small amulet would have been made by pressing the molten glass into a mold.

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