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Object Label

Objects of this type may have served multiple purposes. They have been found in temples, tombs, and houses. Perhaps they satisfied the sexual needs of men in the afterlife or conveyed wishes for fertility on the part of both men and women. They may have had a connection with Hathor, goddess of love and sexuality. The child here suggests the ideas of fertility and rebirth, which were vital to resurrection and immortality in the next life.

Caption

Graeco-Egyptian. Female Face and Neck, Marble, pigment, 8 9/16 × 4 × 3 7/16 in. (21.8 × 10.2 × 8.7 cm) mount: 12 1/2 × 4 1/4 × 4 1/2 in. (31.8 × 10.8 × 11.4 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Evangeline Wilbour Blashfield, Theodora Wilbour, and Victor Wilbour honoring the wishes of their mother, Charlotte Beebe Wilbour, as a memorial to their father, Charles Edwin Wilbour, 16.580.82. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)

Title

Female Face and Neck

Period

late Ptolemaic Period to early Roman Period

Geography

Possible place made: Egypt

Medium

Marble, pigment

Classification

Sculpture

Dimensions

8 9/16 × 4 × 3 7/16 in. (21.8 × 10.2 × 8.7 cm) mount: 12 1/2 × 4 1/4 × 4 1/2 in. (31.8 × 10.8 × 11.4 cm)

Credit Line

Gift of Evangeline Wilbour Blashfield, Theodora Wilbour, and Victor Wilbour honoring the wishes of their mother, Charlotte Beebe Wilbour, as a memorial to their father, Charles Edwin Wilbour

Accession Number

16.580.82

Frequent Art Questions

  • Any cool facts about this?

    Sure! If you look very closely, you can still see traces of red paint in the hair! Most sculptures were brightly painted in ancient times.
    Interestingly, the shape of her mouth is one of the ways we can tell that this fragment comes from the Ptolemaic or Hellenistic period.
  • Why is this incomplete?

    This is actually an ancient fragment which dates to the Ptolemaic period in Egypt. Rodin liked to collect ancient fragments and put them in his studio as inspiration for his own works.

Have information?

Have information about an artwork? Contact us at

bkmcollections@brooklynmuseum.org.