Frog Amulet (c. 1380–1330 BCE): Art, History and Details

Frog Amulet (c. 1380–1330 BCE) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

The frog, because of its numerous offspring, was a symbol of fertility. In fact, the hieroglyphic sign for 100,000 was a tadpole. Frog amulets were very popular both in semiprecious stone and in faience, and were worn by women hoping for an easy delivery. Both sexes wore the frog in expectation of a successful rebirth in the afterlife.

Object facts

• Title: Frog Amulet
• Date: c. 1380–1330 BCE
• Culture: Egypt, New Kingdom (1540–1069 BCE), Dynasty 18
• Type: Amulets
• Technique: polychrome faience
• Dimensions: Overall: 0.8 x 0.9 cm (5/16 x 3/8 in.)
• Collection: Egypt - New Kingdom
• Department: Egyptian and Ancient Near Eastern Art
• Accession number: 1980.123

A detail from the museum

This frog amulet was made from faience, a fine type of self-glazing ceramic that is characteristically turquoise blue. It is a representation of Heqet, the frog goddess associated with childbirth and fertility.

Collection credit

Gift of Cyril and Jessica Aldred

Further reading listed by the museum

• Cleveland Museum of Art, and Jenifer Neils. The World of Ceramics: Masterpieces from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: The Museum in cooperation with Indiana University Press, 1982.
• Berman, Lawrence M., and Kenneth J. Bohač. Catalogue of Egyptian Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1999.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.