The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 19, 2025

Uraeus (Rearing Cobra)

1307–1196 BCE

Egypt, New Kingdom , Dynasty 19

(1540–1069 BCE)
Silver-copper alloy with inlays (copper, feldspar, turquoise, obsidian?) and gilding
height: 14.9 cm (5 7/8 in.)
Gift of Barbara S. Robinson and Family 2023.102
Location: 107 Egyptian

Did You Know?

The word uraeus comes from an Egyptian term for “rising/rearing up,” describing the cobra’s position.

Description

Made from a silver-copper alloy, this rearing cobra likely served as a uraeus, symbolizing royal or divine power in ancient Egypt. Its lowermost portion likely fit into the top of the head of a large sculpture, while its body and tail seem cut short, perhaps making room for a solar disk to rise up behind. The eyes are inlaid, and six cavities for additional inlay remain on the expanded hood, the lowermost still intact, the others likely once filled with brightly colored blue and red stone. Much of the remaining surface may once have been gilded, to judge from remaining traces of gold on the back.
  • by 1981-2001
    Dr. Leo Mildenberg (1913 - 2001), Germany and Switzerland
    26 October 2004
    (Sale: Christie's London, 26 October 2004, lot 123, unsold)
    2004-2023
    Mrs. Barbara Robinson, Cleveland, OH, gifted to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    2023-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Kozloff, Arielle P. Animals in Ancient Art from the Leo Mildenberg Collection. 1981. no. 15, p. 62
    Page-Gasser, Madeleine, and André Wiese. Égypte: moments d'éternité : art égyptien dans les collections privées, Suisse. 1997. no. 136, p. 211
    Page-Gasser, Madeleine, and André Wiese. Ägypten: Augenblicke der Ewigkeit : unbekannte Schätze aus schweizer Privatbesitz. Mainz: P. von Zabern, 1997.
    Mottahedeh, Patricia Erhart, and Gisela Zahlhaas. Out of Noah's ark: animals in ancient art from the Leo Mildenberg collection. Mainz: P. von Zabern, 1997. cat. 15
    Christie, Manson & Woods. A Peaceable Kingdom: The Leo Mildenberg Collection of Ancient Animals. London: Christie's, 2004. no. 123
  • Ägypten : Augenblicke der Ewigkeit : unbekannte Schätze aus schweizer Privatbesitz, Musee d'Art et d'Histoire, Geneva, Switzerland (September 1997-11. January 1998); Antikenmuseum Basel und Sammlung Ludwig, Switzerland (18. March-13. July1997).
    Animals in Ancient Art from the Leo Mildenberg Collection, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (Oct. 21-Nov. 29, 1981).
  • {{cite web|title=Uraeus (Rearing Cobra)|url=false|author=|year=1307–1196 BCE|access-date=19 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2023.102