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Faience hippopotamus figurine in vibrant turquoise with intricate patterns of leaves over the body and head.

William the Hippo: Celebrating 100 Years at The Met

In 1917, The Metropolitan Museum of Art acquired a small ancient Egyptian faience hippopotamus. Created in a captivating blue, the little hippo quickly won people's hearts. He received his now-famous nickname, William, in 1931. Today he is the informal mascot of the Museum, beloved by museum-goers around the world.

A 2017–18 display at The Met, Conversation between Two Hippos, celebrated the one hundredth anniversary of William's arrival at the Museum. In the installation William was juxtaposed with a ceramic hippo created about four thousand years later by the American artist Carl Walters and acquired by the American Wing in 2017.

You can explore different aspects of his life and story on this page.

Art

Faience hippopotamus figurine in vibrant turquoise with intricate patterns of leaves over the body and head.
Hippopotamus ("William")

This statuette of a hippopotamus (popularly called "William") was molded in faience, a ceramic material made of ground quartz.

A tiny reclining hippo carved in high detail from red jasper stone.
Ancient Egyptian Hippos: A Selection
Meet other ancient Egyptian hippos on view at The Met.
A museum gallery featuring two small blue hippos displayed on pedestals in glass cases with colorful stone reliefs hanging in the background.
Conversation between Two Hippos
A 2017–18 display at The Met commemorated the one hundredth anniversary of the acquisition of the ancient Egyptian hippo by juxtaposing it with an earthenware hippo made about four thousand years later by the American artist Carl Walters.

Articles and videos

Faience hippopotamus figurine in vibrant turquoise with intricate patterns of leaves over the body and head.
How William the Hippo Got His Name
Curator Isabel Stünkel and Research Associate Kei Yamamoto tell the story of how The Met's beloved unofficial mascot, William the Hippo, got his name.
The head of a blue hippo looks down from his perch on a display in the galleries.
Getting to Know "William"—Inside and Out
Three conservators at The Met share what they discovered when they examined William the hippo up close.
The front view of a small, blue sculpture of a hippopotamus
The Met's unofficial mascot—this tiny hippo named William—has a bit of a dark side
"A lot of us are inclined to only see his cute side, but in fact there is a lot more to him than that."
Four images of hippos heads: three are carved from stone and is one painted.
Tons of Tiny Hippos!
Did you know there are tons of very small ancient Egyptian hippos at The Met? Use the clues in this post and meet four tiny hippos today!
A comparison of two small blue hippo sculptures with with intricate floral designs over the heads and bodies displayed against a neutral background.
Two Blue Hippos
Isabel Stünkel, associate curator of Egyptian Art, and Adrienne Spinozzi, assistant research curator in The American Wing, write about two hippos in The Met collection.

Essays

Alternating rows of blue and white faience titles. The blue tiles are tall and thin and the white titles are short with a line through the middle.
Egyptian Faience: Technology and Production
In ancient Egypt, objects created with faience were considered magical, filled with the undying shimmer of the sun, and imbued with the powers of rebirth.
A profile painting of a small dark brown hippo with a red belly on a light limestone.
Hippopotami in Ancient Egypt
Many different types of hippopotamus representations occurred throughout ancient Egypt, but the most famous are doubtless the wonderful faience hippopotami . . .