How does this artwork elucidate its Name?
In the early twentieth century, Captain H. M. Raleigh and his family owned a photograph of the hippopotamus, and began to refer to him as William. Raleigh published an article about the hippo for the magazine Punch on March 18, 1931, in which he wrote, "He is described on the back of the frame as "Hippopotamus with Lotus Flowers, Buds and Leaves, XII Dynasty (about 1950 BC), Series VII, Number i, Egyptian Faience;" but to us he is simply William." The article was reprinted in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Bulletin in June 1931, and the name stuck. In 1936 the Met released a book entitled, William and his Friends: A Group of Notable Creatures in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Since then, William has continued to appear in some museum logos and merchandise for both children and adults. The Met first began selling cast reproductions of William in the 1950s, which today are manufactured by M. Hart Pottery.
hippopotamus Hippopotamus Punch Pottery Metropolitan Museum of Art