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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1920.44.282
Title
Seated Harpokrates
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/303893

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Leaded bronze
Technique
Cast, lost-wax process
Dimensions
6.4 x 2.8 x 2.6 cm (2 1/2 x 1 1/8 x 1 in.)
Technical Details

Chemical Composition: ICP-MS/AAA data from sample, Leaded Bronze:
Cu, 73.27; Sn, 6.69; Pb, 19.78; Zn, 0.011; Fe, 0.01; Ni, 0.04; Ag, 0.08; Sb, 0.05; As, less than 0.10; Bi, 0.072; Co, less than 0.005; Au, less than 0.01; Cd, less than 0.001

J. Riederer

Technical Observations: The statuette appears to be solid cast using the lost-wax technique. Its surfaces are now granular in appearance, with most corrosion products removed. This suggests aggressive acidic or electrolytic cleaning. The patina is brown with green in low relief areas. The patina continues over the break at the legs. The loss of the original surface does not allow any further characterization of the workmanship.


Tony Sigel (submitted 2002)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Miss Elizabeth Gaskell Norton, Boston, MA and Miss Margaret Norton, Cambridge, MA (by 1920), gift; to the Fogg Art Museum, 1920.

Note: The Misses Norton were daughters of Charles Elliot Norton (1827-1908).

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of the Misses Norton
Accession Year
1920
Object Number
1920.44.282
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 figurine preserves the upper part of the gently reclining form of a seated Harpokrates. He wears no headdress but has a uraeus on his forehead and the standard side-lock. The figure extends an elongated finger towards his mouth; his proper left hand, now missing, would have been held beside his thigh. A large, crudely executed navel marks the schematic treatment of his body. Possible traces of a broad collar can be discerned on the back, and a fold of fat indicated on his chest suggests the presence of a now-invisible pectoral. The legs have been filed just below the buttocks.

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

NOTES:

1. 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