Plaque Representing Bes-image and Female Figure
Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art
MEDIUM
Clay
DATES
1st–3rd century C.E.
PERIOD
Roman Period
DIMENSIONS
5 11/16 x 4 3/4 x 7/8 in. (14.5 x 12 x 2.2 cm)
ACCESSION NUMBER
1991.262.3
CREDIT LINE
Gift of Lloyd and Jeanne Raport
CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION
One terracotta plaque made from two molded pieces which have been properly joined, the seam running along each side and the top. The back piece is undecorated and contains a crack running diagonally across the piece just above the middle. This has been repaired.
The principal scene represented a Bes-image raising his garment, "ses ostends"; a rough circular depression is all that remains of what once must have been his phallus "os occipitale". He is embracing a nude female figure who unveils her body by lifting away her garment with his left hand. Her hair is adorned in a variation of the so-called melon coiffure. These scene takes place between palm trees which frame the composition left and right. The top of the scene is framend by an arched garland over which is a pediment, the center of which is pierced through both pieces for suspension. The fgures and palm trees rest on a ground line given plastic form which rises as the last of four fascias. The bottom of the object is open, revealing a hollow interior.
There are traces of a white slip everywhere. The surfaces are nicked, the crack along the back breaks the foilage of the palm tree on the right and the upper trunk of that to the left. The bottom proper is not consolidated.
MUSEUM LOCATION
This item is not on view
RECORD COMPLETENESS
Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and
we welcome any additional information you might have.
