Statue of a pregnant woman


Accession Number
EC245
Current Location
In storage
Object Types
Fakes and replicas, Fakes | Sculpture, Statue
Period
Graeco-Roman Period
Material
Pottery
Provenance
Egypt
Measurements
height 13 x 4.8 x 3
Number of Elements
1

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Description

Small pottery statue of Bes or less likely, a pregnant woman giving birth. This has been broken in the past and mended. The pottery has a cream interior and black surface. Genuine moulded terracotta figurines such as these date to the Graeco-Roman Period and are found in temples and tombs. There use is unclear though some may be votives. HOWEVER, this is probably a late 19th or early 20th century fake. Manchester has a very similar example which is more clearly meant to be Bes (Manchester 1984.53). The angle of base might suggest that this object was made to lean back against a wall. Height 129.6mm Width 35mm Depth 26.1mm

Bibliography

Anonymous. 1996. The face of Egypt: Swansea Festival exhibition: 5 October 1996–5 January 1997. Swansea: Glynn Vivian Art Gallery. [Cat. 168] See Dunand, F. 1990 'Catalogue des terres cuites Greco-Romanines d'Egypte'.