Collection
/
Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

Fish

ca. 1390–1336 B.C.E.

Brooklyn Museum photograph

Object Label

This charmingly painted tilapia symbolizes fertility. Because tilapias carry their fertilized eggs in their mouth until they are ready to hatch, the Egyptians viewed them as capable of spontaneous generation and thus regeneration and rebirth. X-rays have revealed pellets of clay inside this fish that represent the eggs and suggest it was used as a rattle during rituals, a form of musical accompaniment to prayer. The pastel black, red, and blue paints were common on pottery made at Akhenaten’s capital Amarna, and at his father’s palace at Malkata.

Caption

Fish, ca. 1390–1336 B.C.E.. Clay, pigment, 2 9/16 × 4 7/16 × 1 1/4 in. (6.5 × 11.2 × 3.2 cm) mount (deck mount display dims): 3 3/4 × 4 3/4 × 2 1/2 in. (9.5 × 12.1 × 6.4 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 48.111. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)

Gallery

Not on view

Title

Fish

Date

ca. 1390–1336 B.C.E.

Dynasty

late Dynasty 18

Period

New Kingdom

Geography

Place made: Egypt, Possible place collected: Saqqara, Egypt

Medium

Clay, pigment

Classification

Model

Dimensions

2 9/16 × 4 7/16 × 1 1/4 in. (6.5 × 11.2 × 3.2 cm) mount (deck mount display dims): 3 3/4 × 4 3/4 × 2 1/2 in. (9.5 × 12.1 × 6.4 cm)

Credit Line

Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund

Accession Number

48.111

Frequent Art Questions

  • How would the little blue "plaque" and this percussive fish have been displayed or kept during their time?

    Would it be kept in a box or some sort of vessel or "displayed" on a mount like it is here?
    The small balls inside, which make the fish rattle, represent the eggs that the fish would lay to create new life!
    I believe the mount is a method of museum display -- not the way its original users/owners would have kept it. I actually don't know how the fish would have been stored, but it would have been used in religious rituals, where music and dance were common.

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