J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1787-1801 Student and master > History Painting c.1799-1807 > Egyptian Details Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Studies of Egyptian Gods, including a Composite Deity and a Cat Figure with Cystrum c.1799-1800

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Studies of Egyptian Gods, including a Composite Deity and a Cat Figure with Cystrum’ c.1799-1800
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 72 Recto:
Studies of Egyptian Gods, including a Composite Deity and a Cat Figure with Cystrum c.1799–1800
D03906
Turner Bequest LXVI 72
Pencil and ink on blue laid paper, 166 x 83 mm
Inscribed by Turner in ink over pencil ‘Osiris’ top centre, ‘ENNE | Apis’ top right, and ‘the Cat’ bottom left
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘72’ bottom right
Inscribed in pencil ‘72’ bottom right
Stamped in black ‘LXVI – 72’ bottom right
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Osiris, Apis the bull-god and the Cat were sacred figures in Egyptian theology. Compare other sketches of Egyptian artefacts on folios 18 recto, 73 recto and 74 recto (D03850, D03908, D03909), and see also the contemporary Studies for Pictures sketchbook (Tate D04074, D04076; Turner Bequest LXIX 65a, 66a).

Andrew Wilton
May 2013

How to cite

Andrew Wilton, ‘Studies of Egyptian Gods, including a Composite Deity and a Cat Figure with Cystrum c.1799–1800 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, May 2013, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, April 2016, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-studies-of-egyptian-gods-including-a-composite-deity-and-a-r1180145, accessed 21 July 2025.