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Identification and Creation

Object Number
2000.186
Title
Seated Harpokrates
Classification
Jewelry
Work Type
pendant
Date
mid 7th-late 1st century BCE
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Africa, Egypt (Ancient)
Period
Late Period to Ptolemaic
Culture
Egyptian
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/183909

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Leaded bronze
Technique
Cast, lost-wax process
Dimensions
5 x 1.5 x 1.6 cm (1 15/16 x 9/16 x 5/8 in.)
Technical Details

Chemical Composition: ICP-MS/AAA data from sample, Leaded Bronze:
Cu, 89.47; Sn, 6.76; Pb, 3.21; Zn, 0.014; Fe, 0.12; Ni, 0.04; Ag, 0.09; Sb, 0.02; As, 0.27; Bi, less than 0.025; Co, 0.013; Au, less than 0.01; Cd, less than 0.001
J. Riederer

Technical Observations: The patina is a rough, raised green surface with spots of gray burial accretion and spots of underlying red. The loop at the back is partially lost, perhaps from original wear. The figure was cast solid, probably from a model made directly in wax. The surface is too obscured to determine the nature of any finish work.


Henry Lie (submitted 2012)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Acquired in Palestine in 1920 by the Rev. William H.F. Hatch (father of the Rt. Rev. Robert M. Hatch).

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of The Rt. Rev. Robert M. Hatch
Accession Year
2000
Object Number
2000.186
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
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Descriptions

Published Catalogue Text: Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Bronzes at the Harvard Art Museums
This small pendant represents Harpokrates in the reclining position. An indeterminate protrusion marks the front of the skull cap, perhaps indicating a uraeus. The various features are generally indistinct due to the small size. The suspension loop on the back is broken (1).

Harpokrates represents the god Horus as a child, shown nude with the side-lock of youth on the right side of his head and his right index finger to his mouth. As the son of Osiris and Isis, he gained immense popularity during the Ptolemaic and Roman periods, during which time the production of bronze figurines of Harpokrates flourished. He often wears the Double Crown of Upper and Lower Egypt, a feature common in first millennium Egypt when youthful deities acquired kingly attributes. Another characteristic headdress is the nemes head cloth, although frequently the boy is depicted with either a shaven head or a tight-fitting skull cap. His nude body typically retains the roundness of flesh associated with young boys. The child-god could be represented seated, striding, or squatting. When seated, he assumes a semi-reclining position derived from that of a baby on its mother’s lap; many of the smaller examples of these figurines may originally have belonged with a seated Isis figure (2). Suspension loops for attachment as a pendant indicate an amuletic connection that may have been particularly associated with young children.

NOTES:

1. For more on the wearing of statuettes of deities, see M. Hill and D. Schorsch, eds., Gifts for the Gods: Images from Egyptian Temples, exh. cat., Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, 2007) 87-88.

2. G. Roeder, Ägyptische Bronzefiguren, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin Mitteilungen aus der Ägyptischen Sammlung 6 (Berlin, 1956) 13-17, 104-105, pls. 15-22.


Marian Feldman

Subjects and Contexts

  • Ancient Bronzes

Related Works

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu