Statuette of Tutankhamun with Leopard

Statuette of Tutankhamun wearing the white crown and holding staff and flail, carried upon the back of a black leopard. The king is shown standing with his left leg forward on a rectangular pedestal fixed to the back of the leopard.

The exaggeration of the king’s features shows the influence of the Amarna style of art. He holds a long staff in one hand and the flail in the other. King Tutankhamun is wearing the White Hedjet Crown of Upper Egypt with a cobra on his forehead and a large collar that covers his chest and shoulders and terminates with a row of drop beads.

A tight-fitting loincloth tied at the front and incised with fine lines covers his lower body. He is wearing sandals.

The feline with the curved back is portrayed realistically in its furtive pacing. According to an archaic belief, the panther represented the night sky and consequently the underworld that the Pyramid Texts state was originally located among the stars.

The king assimilated to the sun by the golden tan of his skin, looms above the panther to symbolize triumph over death.

The leopard itself would have been seen as a symbol of both strength and grace. The statuette’s craftsmanship is exquisite, showing the skill of the ancient Egyptian artisans.

New Kingdom, late 18th Dynasty, reign of Tutankhamun, ca. 1332-1323 BC. From the Tomb of Tutankhamun (KV62), Valley of the Kings, West Thebes. Now in the Egyptian Museum, Cairo. JE 60715