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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1934.189.3
Title
Seated Man Playing the Harp
Classification
Sculpture
Work Type
statuette, sculpture
Date
30 BCE - 300 CE
Period
Roman period
Culture
Egyptian
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/291847

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Terracotta
Technique
Mold-made
Dimensions
4.9 × 2.3 × 4.4 cm (1 15/16 × 7/8 × 1 3/4 in.)

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Through Helmut von Erffa - Postage Fund
Accession Year
1934
Object Number
1934.189.3
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Descriptions

Description
Incomplete figurine; missing part of phallus. Front is not as crisp as back, which is the side pictured here. Heavy surface accretions.

Very small figure, male, nude, seated and resting a harp on his enormous phallus. Either bald or with very short cropped hair. Symmetrical arrangement of arms and legs, though the proper left shoulder is higher than the right, possibly to accommodate the head, which faces proper right. Shapely body with small waist and wide hips, almost feminine. What remains of the harp resembles a right triangle with the strings placed parallel to its hypotenuse. The figure’s arms go around both sides of the harp, with hands placed on the strings. Legs bent up at the knee. Figure rests on a narrow plain base.

Would have been painted originally, now only faint traces of white ground extant.

Solid. Mold-made in a single bivalve mold split down the figure’s sagittal plane; likely plaster.

Deep mauve clay, smooth, well-levigated.

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