Baboon
Enquire
A notably large ancient Egyptian limestone statue of a seated baboon. The baboon sits, facing forward, with forepaws resting atop its knees. The baboon’s features are carved in high relief, with deep-set, wide almond-shaped eyes framed by pronounced cosmetic lines, extending towards the edges of the face. The long snout extends forwards below the eyes, terminating in a flat nose and broad mouth. The details of the ears and furry jowls are also picked out in relief. The baboon wears a pectoral ornament in the form of a shrine, suspended from a cord around its shoulders. The baboon’s tail curls from the back, round the proper right side of the now-fragmented base.
The ancient Egyptians saw baboons as the original devotees of the rising and setting sun, and so they were often depicted with their arms outstretched in solar worship. Baboons were also associated with Thoth, the god of wisdom, science and measurement. Thoth was depicted as a dog-face baboon or a man with the head of a baboon when in the form of A’an, the god of equilibrium. When in the guise of a baboon, Thoth was often shown with a lunar disc atop his head – the damage to the top of this statue could show where such a disc was previously attached. The chattering of baboons was thought to communicate secret knowledge, and they were frequently represented with water clocks or scales for weighing the hearts of humans awaiting their final judgement.
Abd el Hamid Zayed, Egyptian Antiquities (Cairo, 1962), no. 4222, p. 9, fig. 9.
Western Asiatic, Egyptian, Greek, Etruscan and Roman Antiquities. Islamic Pottery and Metalwork. Indian Sculpture. African and Oceanic Art, Sotheby’s, London, 14 October 1969, p. 33, Lot 169.
With Albert Eid (1886-1950), Khan el-Khalili, Cairo, by at least 1961.
With Galleria Geri, via Fiori Oscuri 3, Milan, by at least 1969, accompanied by dated notice of sale N. 186 and black and white photograph.
Sold at: Western Asiatic, Egyptian, Greek, Etruscan and Roman Antiquities. Islamic Pottery and Metalwork. Indian Sculpture. African and Oceanic Art, Sotheby’s, London, 14 October 1969, Lot 169.
Private Collection of B. Cohen, acquired from the above sale.
With the Merrin Gallery, New York, by at least 1989.
Private Collection of Henry (1928-2024) and Marlene Shatkin (d. 2021), Northfield, Illinois, acquired from the above, 16 October 1989, accompanied by dated receipts and letters.
Notice of sale at Galleria Geri, Milan, 1969-1970, and accompanying black-and-white photograph.
Purchase invoice and delivery receipt from Merrin Gallery, New York, to Shatkin for Chic, Winnetka, Illinois, dated 16 and 18 October 1989.
ALR: S00259581, with IADAA Certificate, this item has been checked against the Interpol database.
Albert Eid (1886-1950) was born in Cairo in 1886 to Belgian consul, George Alphonse Eid, and Zoe Kher. Eid ran an antiquities shop at Sikket el-Bâdistân in Khan el-Khalili, under the name ‘Albert Eid & Co.’, with antiquities license no. 112. The large shop was located in a former fourteenth-century mosque. Eid’s business was continued by his widow, Simone, after his death in 1950, with Robert Viola (1919-2005), son of renowned dealer Maurice Nahman, as general manager. Following the Tripartite Invasion of Egypt in 1956, when many foreigners were asked to leave the country, the shop was nationalised by the Egyptian government. Viola was tasked with helping to liquidate the shop’s inventory and continued as manager on the behalf of the government until he left Egypt in 1963. The sale of antiquities continued as before, with ‘Albert Eid & Co.’ recorded in the 1959 export register of the Egyptian Museum. A large collection of Eid’s antiquities, including this baboon, was exhibited in Texas in 1961 – though not explicitly stated in the catalogue, this exhibition may well have been for sales purposes. The business continued under new management until 1963, and was closed in the late 1960s.
Galleria Geri, Milan, was founded by Aldo Geri (1903-1981) in 1946, following in the footsteps of his father, Florentine dealer Alfredo Geri (1867-1947). Alfredo Geri opened his first antique shop in Piazza SS. Annunziata at the end of the nineteenth century. For the first decade of the twentieth century, Geri worked as both an art and antiquities dealer and a theatre manager, but was forced to sell the shop due to economic issues. The auctioneer Luigi Battistelli supported Geri in starting his new business, the gallery and sales house ‘Arte antica e moderna’ in via Borgognissanti 12. Geri was instrumental in the return of the stolen Mona Lisa to the Uffizi gallery – when Peruggia, the thief, approached Geri with an offer to buy the painting, Geri immediately went to the Uffizi’s director and to the authorities. That Peruggia went to Geri is testament to the name he had built for himself amongst the Florentine art scene. This event generated further positive press for the gallery, and Geri was able to expand the business into Milan in 1916, Venice in the 1920s, Rome in 1929, and increase the number of shops in Florence. Alfredo and his son, Aldo (1903-1981) managed the Milanese branch of the store together until it closed in 1931, when Alfredo’s private collection was auctioned off. Aldo continued the family business, founding the ‘Galleria Geri, del Bramante, del Portico’ in 1946, which continued to operate until 1981.
