AN EGYPTIAN BRONZE FIGURE OF HARPOKRATES (HORUS THE CHILD), LATE PERIOD

拍品描述

AN EGYPTIAN BRONZE FIGURE OF HARPOKRATES (HORUS THE CHILD), LATE PERIOD This lot is from a single owner collection and is therefore offered without reserve Egypt, 664-332 BC. Finely cast seated on a short stool with his knees bent atop an integral base, the left hand resting on his knee, wearing a cap-crown fronted by a uraeus and issuing a braided side-lock. The bronze with a naturally grown patina with vibrant malachite encrustations. Important Note: For essential information on the Jorgen Ruben Gallery Ledger and provenance documentation please visit here: www.zacke.at/rubencollection_ledger Dimensions: Height 4 cm (excl. stand and tang), 5.7 cm (incl. stand) With an associated stand. (2) This small figurine depicts a naked, crouching boy with a uraeus (cobra) on his forehead to indicate his royal or divine status. A thick lock of hair falls from the right side of his head onto his shoulder and marks that he is a child. His proper right hand was originally held up with his finger reaching for his mouth in a gesture that likewise signifies youth. Harpokrates, the Greek name for Horus the Child, was one of the most beloved deities of Late Period and Ptolemaic Egypt, embodying divine childhood, rebirth, protection, and the renewal of kingship. Figures such as the present bronze, seated compactly with the knees drawn up, belong to a long Egyptian tradition of representing the child god as both vulnerable and powerful: the youthful Horus who triumphs over chaos and guarantees the continuity of cosmic and royal order. The pose also recalls earlier royal-child imagery, most famously the representation of Ramesses II as a divine child protected by Horun, see the famous monumental sculpture in the Egyptian Museum. Literature comparison: Compare a related steatite seal depicting the same subject, 4.4 cm high, dated Late Period, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, object number 60.15. Compare a related bronze figure of Pediese kneeling and pouring libation, 6.5 cm high, dated Late Period-Ptolemaic Period, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, object number 2021.41.131.

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