Egyptian
An Egyptian limestone double-sided votive relief, Ptolemaic Period, circa 332 - 30 BC
Limestone
Length: 10.5 cm
Depicting in high relief on one side the nude torso of Harpokrates facing to the right, holding his left forefinger to his mouth, and wearing a heart amulet suspended from...
Depicting in high relief on one side the nude torso of Harpokrates facing to the right, holding his left forefinger to his mouth, and wearing a heart amulet suspended from his neck; the other side is carved with the torso of a goddess, likely Isis, holding a sceptre
Provenance
Sotheby Parke Bernet, New York, 1 December 1972, lot 93Edward Cornwell (1936 - 2002) Collection, Rochester, New York
Literature
See G. Steindorff, Egyptian Sculpture, Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore, Maryland, 1946, p. 94, no. 321, pl. 61. There is a more complete image of a similar goddess on a trial piece/votive in the British Museum, acc.no. EA14371. As Isis was the mother of Harpokrates, it is likely that the goddess figure is meant to represent her, holding her was sceptre, as a pairing on the relief. See S. Walker and P. Higgs, Cleopatra of Egypt, London, 2001, p. 68;See N.S. Tomoum, The Sculptors’ Models of the Late and Ptolemaic Periods. A Study of the Type and Function of a Group of Ancient Egyptian Artefacts, Cairo, 2005. For further discussion of whether these are sculptors models or have a votive finction see E. Young, 'Sculptors' Models or Votives? In Defense of a Scholarly Tradition', The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, vol. 22, New York, 1964, p. 247-256.