Model of a Cow and Her Calf

Model of a Cow and Her Calf

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This model depicts a cow with her nursing calf, and represents a three-dimensional version of a vignette seen also in two-dimensions on the walls of many tomb chapels. The purpose of such a model likely was to help ensure eternal sustenance for the tomb owner while simultaneously evoking the spring season when calves were born, and the floodplain where farmers lived and raised their livestock.

Egyptian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Model of a Cow and Her CalfModel of a Cow and Her CalfModel of a Cow and Her CalfModel of a Cow and Her CalfModel of a Cow and Her Calf

The Met collection of ancient Egyptian art consists of approximately 30,000 objects of artistic, historical, and cultural importance, dating from about 300,000 BCE to the 4th century CE. A signifcant percentage of the collection is derived from the Museum's three decades of archaeological work in Egypt, initiated in 1906 in response to increasing interest in the culture of ancient Egypt.