Skip Navigation

Reclining Dog

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

On View: Old Kingdom to 18th Dynasty, Egyptian Galleries, 3rd Floor
Buried in a tomb, this charming figure of a dog served as the deceased’s beloved companion and guardian in the afterlife. Relief inscriptions relate that dogs were sometimes given names reflecting special skills (“Good Watcher”), appearance (“Ebony”), or personality traits (“Trusty,” “Useless”).
MEDIUM Faience
  • Place Excavated: Harageh, Egypt
  • DATES ca. 1938-1700 B.C.E.
    DYNASTY Dynasty 12 to early 13 Dynasty
    PERIOD Middle Kingdom
    DIMENSIONS 13/16 x 1 15/16 x 1 1/2 in. (2 x 4.9 x 3.8 cm)  (show scale)
    ACCESSION NUMBER 14.659
    CREDIT LINE Museum Collection Fund
    PROVENANCE Tomb No. 56, Harageh, Egypt; 1913-14, excavated by the British School of Archaeology; 1914, purchased from the British School of Archaeology by the Brooklyn Museum.
    Provenance FAQ
    CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Small blue-green glazed faience figure of a dog reclining on a small base. Condition: Bad, object assembled from at least two pieces. Glaze almost entirely gone with miniature portions of original brilliant blue remaining on head of dog and under side of base. Base extensively chipped.
    MUSEUM LOCATION This item is on view in Old Kingdom to 18th Dynasty, Egyptian Galleries, 3rd Floor
    CAPTION Reclining Dog, ca. 1938-1700 B.C.E. Faience, 13/16 x 1 15/16 x 1 1/2 in. (2 x 4.9 x 3.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Museum Collection Fund, 14.659. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.14.659_view1_erg2.jpg)
    IMAGE overall, CUR.14.659_view1_erg2.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 10/23/2007
    "CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
    RIGHTS STATEMENT 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.
    RECORD COMPLETENESS
    Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.