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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1919.529
Title
Harpokrates
Classification
Sculpture
Work Type
sculpture, statuette
Date
3rd-2nd century BCE
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Africa, Egypt (Ancient)
Period
Ptolemaic period
Culture
Egyptian
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/303607

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Leaded bronze
Technique
Cast, lost-wax process
Dimensions
overall: 19.6 x 4.7 x 11.1 cm (7 11/16 x 1 7/8 x 4 3/8 in.)
figurine: 17.3 x 4.3 cm (6 13/16 x 1 11/16 in.)
base: 2.3 x 4.7 x 11.1 cm (7/8 x 1 7/8 x 4 3/8 in.)
Technical Details

Chemical Composition: ICP-MS/AAA data from sample, Leaded Bronze:
Cu, 81.04; Sn, 7.78; Pb, 10.34; Zn, 0.05; Fe, 0.04; Ni, 0.16; Ag, 0.11; Sb, 0.03; As, 0.2; Bi, less than 0.025; Co, 0.252; Au, less than 0.01; Cd, less than 0.001

J. Riederer

Technical Observations: The statuette is covered in green patina with spots of black, the latter probably modern sulfides. Deep-seated corrosion is indicative of long-term burial. The side-lock at the head is black in color. As the underlying metal is white, it is probably a silver alloy. The eyebrows, eyelids, and irises are also black and appear to be silver inlay. A black paint accretion at the right breast continues under the break at the arm and is unlikely to be ancient.

The statuette is heavy and appears to be a solid cast using a lost-wax process. The breaks at the left knee and right arm reveal no hollow interior. The separately cast base is hollow with a white core material present. It is closed at the bottom surface. The holes where the missing foot and an attachment once met the base reveal that its wall thickness is approximately 0.15 cm. The proper left hand once held an attachment that was square in section and tapered to the back. Although the condition of the surface makes it difficult to be sure, most of the surface detail appears to have been made in the wax model. The inscription at the front of the base is more crisply defined and may have been incised in the metal.


Henry Lie (submitted 2001)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Mr. and Mrs. William de Forest Thompson, gift; to the Fogg Art Museum, 1919.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. William de Forest Thomson
Accession Year
1919
Object Number
1919.529
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
Harpokrates, shown in striding position and wearing the Double Crown, stands toward the back of a large rectangular base (1). Faint traces of an inscription exist on the front of the base. The trailing tail of the uraeus continues onto the tall White Crown. The attached side-lock has a dark brown patina that differs from the rest of the figure, which is covered with thin, compact layers of green colored corrosion products. Fine modeling is apparent despite the poor condition of the metal. The proper right arm, now missing, would have been held up to the mouth. The lowered left hand with a hole in it may have held an attribute such as a staff. The proper left leg below the knee is also lost; a rectangular aperture in the base indicates its former position. A second aperture on the base served an unknown function. The roundness and fullness of the face suggest a late date in the third or second century BCE (2). In addition, the modeling of the buttocks and legs exhibits torsion of naturalistic movement associated with the Graeco-Roman periods.

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 (3). Suspension loops for attachment as a pendant indicate an amuletic connection that may have been particularly associated with young children.

NOTES:

1. Compare another striding Harpokrates on a rectangular base at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, inv. no. 45.4.2.

2. J. Baines, pers. comm.

3. 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