Woman Holding a Lily Scepter

305–30 B.C.

1 of 6

Object Label

The shapely forms of this statuette are characteristic of the ideal feminine body type of the Ptolemaic Period. During Greek rule, full thighs, a fleshy stomach, and round breasts replaced the leaner model of feminine beauty from earlier pharaonic history. Since Egyptians rarely depicted women naked, this figure wears a tight-fitting dress, the outlines of which were visible on the now missing ankles.

It is difficult to identify the subject precisely without an inscription or the head, which was likely decorated with attributes identifying the figure. The lily-scepter, held by both goddesses and queens, adds to the statuette’s mystery.

Caption

Woman Holding a Lily Scepter, 305–30 B.C.. Faience, 4 3/16 x 2 1/16 in. (10.6 x 5.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 64.198. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 64.198_threequarter_left_PS2.jpg)

Title

Woman Holding a Lily Scepter

Date

305–30 B.C.

Period

Ptolemaic Period

Geography

Place made: Egypt

Medium

Faience

Classification

Sculpture

Dimensions

4 3/16 x 2 1/16 in. (10.6 x 5.2 cm)

Credit Line

Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund

Accession Number

64.198

Rights

Creative Commons-BY

You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.

Frequent Art Questions

  • What was the purpose of these sculptures? Were they important people?

    These figures all had some kind of religious significance. Isis, represented in at least two of them, was one of the most important goddesses in the ancient Egyptian pantheon.
    The larger limestone figure is also identified as a goddess, but without an inscription, headdress, or other defining attributes, so we can't be sure which one.
    The headless figure is also difficult to securely identify, but the scepter she holds suggests that she represents either a queen or a goddess.
  • Why do they hold their chest?

    The headless figure is simply holding her scepter close to her body, a useful feature in sculpture to make sure parts don't break off.
    The two busts of Isis would have actually included a representation of her son, the god Horus, as an infant nursing. They are holding their babies to their chests.

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