Ptolemaic-Roman Egyptian Bronze Figure, Harpocrates

North Africa, Egypt, Ptolemaic to Roman period. A cast leaded-bronze figure of Harpocrates, the youthful form of Horus the child, standing nude with the left leg advanced. One hand is raised toward the mouth, the finger-to-lips gesture associated with the god's iconography, a motif understood in antiquity as a sign of infancy, and later reinterpreted, incorrectly, as a gesture for silence. The head carries the plaited sidelock of youth falling along one shoulder, a marker of divine childhood in Egyptian iconography. The surface carries a mottled green and earthen patina consistent with burial. Bronzes of this type were kept in household shrines or carried as protective amulets, associated with the child god's role in healing, fertility, and protection. Please note that this figure contains over 31% lead. Item # 203695

Estimate:£378.37

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