The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 19, 2025

Spearing Fish

c. 667–647 BCE

Egypt, Late period , Dynasties 25–26

(715–332 BCE)
limestone
Overall: 26.4 x 25.8 cm (10 3/8 x 10 3/16 in.)
Gift of the Hanna Fund 1949.499
Location: 107 Egyptian

Description

The spearing of fish against a conventionalized background of water--a classic subject of the painted reliefs found in tombs of the Pyramid Age. The papyrus thicket shown in the background is represented growing in perfect symmetry quite unlike the tangled riot of vegetation typical of the growing plant. Probably an exact copy of a detail of Dynasty V at Saqqara. It is likely that this relief comes from the same composition as 1949.498.
  • Thebes, Asasif, tomb of Mentuemhat (no. 34), second court, west wall. Purchased from Mrs. Paul Mallon, Paris (Mallon 189)
  • Cleveland Museum of Art, “Recent Acquisition Press Release,” January 1952, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives. archive.org
    Wunderlich, Silvia. "A Group of Egyptian Reliefs of the Saïte Period." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 39, no. 3 (March 1952): 44-47, 49-50. Mentioned: p. 44 www.jstor.org
    Cleveland Museum of Art, and Martha L. Carter. Egyptian Art, the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, Ohio: The Museum, 1963. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 14-15 archive.org
    Kathman, Barbara A. A Cleveland Bestiary. Cleveland, OH; Cleveland Museum of Art, 1981. Reproduced: p. 38; Mentioned: p. 39, p.62
    Berman, Lawrence M., and Kenneth J. Bohač. Catalogue of Egyptian Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1999 Reproduced and Mentioned: p. 413
  • A Cleveland Bestiary. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 15-December 16, 1981).
    CMA 1981b, no. 32
    In Memoriam: Leonard C. Hanna, Jr.. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 4-April 7, 1958).
  • {{cite web|title=Spearing Fish|url=false|author=|year=c. 667–647 BCE|access-date=19 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1949.499