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Nov 12, 2009

Statuette of Harpocrates

c. 50 BCE

Greece, Greco-Roman Period, late Ptolemaic Dynasty

Bronze, hollow cast, with silver inlays

Overall: 27 x 10.2 x 8.6 cm (10 5/8 x 4 x 3 3/8 in.)

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1972.6

Location

234 Textile Gallery

Description

The Greek deity Harpocrates’s name is an adaptation of Hor-pa-khred, the Egyptian word for Horus, the ancient Egyptian sun god. The statuette’s features may seem to align with Greek artistic values for representing naturalism in art rather than echo ancient Egyptian style. Yet, the statuette references ancient Egyptian religion, specifically Horus’s origin story, including the index finger over the mouth, a gesture commonly associated with his childhood. Additionally, the hole in the top front of the statue’s head is where a double crown of Egypt would have been, known as a pschent, conveying Horus’ ascension as pharaoh.

Provenance

Probably Alexandria

Private Collection, England (said to have been purchased in Egypt about a century ago)

-1972

Robert Hecht, Jr., Rome, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art

1972-

The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Oh

Citations

Cleveland Museum of Art, and Arielle P. Kozloff. An Introduction to the Art of Egypt in the Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland]: [The Museum], 1970. p. 19

Cooney, John D. "Harpocrates, the Dutiful Son." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 59, no. 10 (1972) pp. 284-90 www.jstor.org

Lee, Sherman E. "The Year in Review for 1972." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 60, no. 3 (1973) p. 106 www.jstor.org

Zick, Gisela. "Amor0Harpokrates: Zur Wirkungsgeschichte und Ikonographischen Herleitung einer Skulptur von Etienne0Maurice Falconet," Wallraf-Richartz-Jahrbuch 37 (1975). pp. 224-25 fig. 18

Richardson, Emeline, and G. Kenneth Sams. Small Sculptures in Bronze from the Classical World: An Exhibit in Honor of Emeline Hill Richardson : The William Hayes Ackland Memorial Art Center and the Department of Classics of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, March 7-April 18, 1976. [Chapel Hill, N.C.]: The Center, 1976. Cat. No. 33

Swan Hall, Emma. "Harpocrates and Other Child Deities in Ancient Egyptian Sculpture." Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt (JARCE) 56 (1977). pp. 56-7, pl. XXVII

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 27 archive.org

Kozloff, A.P. "Harpocrates and the Sacred Goose." The Ancient World 3, No. 3 (September 1980). figs. 4-5

Kozloff, Arielle P. "The Egyptian Collection of the Cleveland Museum o Art," Newsletter of the American Research Center in Egypt 125 (Spring 1984) p. 11

Kozloff, Arielle P., David Gordon Mitten, and Suzannah Fabing. The Gods Delight: The Human Figure in Classical Bronze. Cleveland, Ohio: Published by the Cleveland Museum of Art in cooperation with Indiana University Press, 1988. Cat. No. 21

Kozloff, Arielle P. Classical Art: A Brief Guide to the Collection, the Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland]: The Museum, 1989. p. 15, fig. 31

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1991. Reproduced: p. 12 archive.org

Cleveland Museum of Art, Lawrence Michael Berman, and Kenneth J. Bohač. Catalogue of Egyptian Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland, OH]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1999. pp. 474-475, Cat. No. 367

Exhibition history

Small Sculptures in Bronze from the Classical World, William Hayes Ackland Memorial Art Center, Chapel Hill, N.C., (March 7 - April 18, 1976)

The Gods Delight: The Human Figure in Classical Bronze. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (16 November 1988- 8 January 1989); The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (9 February - 9 April 1989); Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Boston, MA (9 May - July 1989)

Year in Review: 1972. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 27-March 18, 1973).

Egyptomania: Fashion's Conflicted Obsession. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 1, 2023-January 28, 2024).

Cite this page

{{cite web|title=Statuette of Harpocrates|url=https://clevelandart.org/art/1972.6|year=c. 50 BCE|access-date=04 June 2023|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

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Statuette of Harpocrates

Statuette of Harpocrates

Greece, Greco-Roman Period, late Ptolemaic Dynasty

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