[2] This 20 cm (8 in) figurine in Egyptian faience, a clay-less material, has become popular not only for his endearing appearance, but also because his defining characteristics illustrate many of the most salient facets of craft production in ancient Egypt during this time.

According to the Museum's Bulletin from that year, this hippopotamus is a "particularly fine example of a type found, in common with various other animal forms, among the funerary furnishings of tombs of the Middle Kingdom" and also an exemplary piece of Egyptian faience.

As Nicholson writes, animal figures were common during this period and "hippopotamus figurines, usually decorated with aquatic plants, probably symbolized the revitalizing properties of the Nile".

[6] As not all hippopotamus statues from this era were elaborately painted, William is a particularly important example; he has been "covered with a decoration in black line of lotus flowers, buds, and leaves" to signal his "natural surroundings among the lowlands of the Nile.

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.