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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1919.524.B
Title
Standing Osiris
Classification
Sculpture
Work Type
statuette, sculpture
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/303640

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Leaded bronze
Technique
Cast, lost-wax process
Dimensions
13.4 x 4.8 x 5.2 cm (5 1/4 x 1 7/8 x 2 1/16 in.)
Technical Details

Chemical Composition: ICP-MS/AAA data from sample, Leaded Bronze:
Cu, 80.53; Sn, 3.52; Pb, 15.29; Zn, 0.029; Fe, 0.09; Ni, 0.05; Ag, 0.07; Sb, 0.11; As, 0.28; Bi, less than 0.025; Co, 0.026; Au, less than 0.01; Cd, less than 0.001

J. Riederer

Technical Observations: The patina is black with several small spots of green, which appear recent. The surface of the figurine is etched. This could be the result of an electrolytic cleaning that removed all ancient corrosion products. Alternatively, it could be the result of treating the surface of a modern object to make it look old. The black color of the surface is probably modern.

This statuette is a solid cast. The details, including the incised lines and probably the punch marks in the beard and implements, appear to have been made in the wax model rather than the bronze. White material in the left eye is similar to white accretions elsewhere and is not likely to be inlay decoration.


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
1919.524.B
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Descriptions

Published Catalogue Text: Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Bronzes at the Harvard Art Museums
The standing Osiris with an angular body holds his hands side-by-side. A backwards curve in the headdress underlines the impression that the figure is leaning. The incised uraeus on the elaborate atef crown and careless detailing of the feathers and ram's horns are unusual features, suggesting that this figurine may not have been produced in Egypt proper (1). Alternatively, it may be a modern work, as corrosion products suggestive of long-term burial are absent.

Osiris was one of the most popular gods of the Egyptian pantheon. Early in Egyptian history he represented a chthonic fertility god that later acquired the royal insignia of the crook and flail. He came to be identified as the ruler of the underworld. The Egyptian ruler, perceived during his lifetime as the incarnation of Horus, became Osiris after death. Over time, Osiris was equated with all deceased individuals and became a symbol of resurrection. The major cult shrine of Osiris was at Abydos in Middle Egypt, where Seti I (c. 1294-1279 BCE) built a magnificent temple in Dynasty 19.

Small bronze figurines representing Osiris show the god wrapped in a form-fitting garment, perhaps denoting a mummified shroud, and carrying the symbols of rulership—the crook and flail—in each hand. Enveloped in his shroud, Osiris’ arms are bound close to his body and his feet and legs stand together. The god is usually depicted wearing the White Crown of Upper Egypt, ornamented with a uraeus (cobra) on the front and sometimes flanked by two feathers (the atef crown). In addition, this crown can rest on a set of spiraling ram’s horns that project to either side.

The bronze figurines take two basic forms: seated or standing. Within each group, several subgroups can be distinguished according to the placement of the hands. The hands can be side-by-side without overlapping, the proper right hand above the left in a vertical alignment, or crossed over one another at the wrists. G. Roeder associates the different poses to geographical areas within Egypt: those with hands side-by-side in Middle Egypt, those with hands one above the other in Lower Egypt, and those with the hands crossed over one another in Upper Egypt (2). The position of the hands also appears to correlate with other broad stylistic features. For example, the ridge created by the shroud pulled around the shoulders occurs primarily on figurines in which the hands are arranged one above the other.

NOTES:

1. Compare the recently discovered statuette of Osiris wearing an atef crown with ram’s horns from the temple at ‘Ayn Manâwir, occupied from the early fifth to the early fourth centuries BCE in M. Wuttmann, L. Coulon, and F. Gombert, “An Assemblage of Bronze Statuettes in a Cult Context: The Temple of ‘Ayn Manâwir,” in Gifts for the Gods: Images from Egyptian Temples, eds. M. Hill and D. Schorsch, exh. cat., Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, 2007) 167-73, esp. 168-70, fig. 73.

2. G. Roeder, Ägyptische Bronzewerke, Pelizaeus-Museum zu Hildesheim, Wissenschaftliche Veröffentlichung 3 (Hamburg, 1937) 89; and id., Ägyptische Bronzefiguren, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin Mitteilungen aus der Ägyptischen Sammlung 6 (Berlin, 1956) 133. See also Wuttmann, Coulon, and Gombert 2007 (supra 1) 169-70.


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