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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1955.130
Title
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/312178

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Leaded bronze
Technique
Cast, lost-wax process
Dimensions
12.4 x 3.5 x 6.5 cm (4 7/8 x 1 3/8 x 2 9/16 in.)
Technical Details

Chemical Composition: ICP-MS/AAA data from sample, Leaded Bronze
Cu, 86.41; Sn, 8.55; Pb, 4.75; Zn, 0.006; Fe, 0.02; Ni, 0.03; Ag, 0.11; Sb, 0.03; As, 0.1; Bi, less than 0.025; Co, less than 0.005; Au, less than 0.01; Cd, less than 0.001
J. Riederer

Technical Observations: The patina is dark green with spots of red. The surface is very rough from expanded corrosion products, and no detail is visible. Very little cleaning other than the removal of burial accretions appears to have ever been attempted. There are old cracks at the backs of both ankles, but the bronze is stable. There is a residue of lead from a mount at the buttocks. The statuette is a solid cast from a model formed directly in wax.


Henry Lie (submitted 2012)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Aimée and Rosamond Lamb, Milton, MA (by 1955), gift; to the Fogg Art Museum, 1955.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of the Misses Aimée and Rosamond Lamb
Accession Year
1955
Object Number
1955.130
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 seated Harpokrates figure wears the royal nemes headdress with a round modius, perhaps originally topped by a now-lost hemhem crown, although the piece is too corroded to determine with certainty. The feet rest on a small plate, the back edge of which has been filed in recent times; there is no indication of any attachment pegs. The execution of the chubby body is concealed by the heavy accretions. There is a modern hole for attachment in the rear.

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