Egypt, ca. 1st century BCE to 1st century CE. A mold-made earthenware statuette depicting Harpokrates (also Harpocrates), son of Osiris and Isis as well as the Egyptian god of silence, holding his right forefinger to his lips and riding a stallion. Harpokrates is dressed in a short tunic and wears a large wreath and a Double Crown. The hollow terracotta figure was made from a two-piece mold; the back is un-modeled and has a circular vent. Nice white pigment has survived in some areas. Size: 4.125" W x 6.625" H (10.5 cm x 16.8 cm)

Harpocrates (Harpokrates) was the god of silence - originally a Greek interpretation of the Egyptian deity Harpa-Khruti (Horus the Child) who was depicted as a boy with his finger held to his lips. This was an Egyptian symbol of childhood that the Greeks understandably mistook for the "hush" gesture of silence. References to Harpocrates appeared in classical literature, including Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 277 (Roman mythographer c. 2nd century CE) and of course Ovid's Metamorphoses as we see in the following passage, "She saw before her bed, or seemed to see as in a dream, great (Egyptian goddess) Isis with her train of holy deities. Upon her brow there stood the crescent moon-horns, garlanded with glittering heads of golden grain, and grace of royal dignity: and at her side . . . (Harpocrates) the god who holds his finger to his lips for silence's sake." (Ovid, Metamorphoses 9.688 ff - trans. Melville - Roman epic ca. 1st century BCE to 1st century CE)

Interestingly, after Alexander the Great conquered Egypt, the Greeks appropriated the Egyptian god Horus to become their deity Harpocrates (literal meaning is "Horus the child"). Horus was regarded as the son of Isis and Osiris who avenged his father's death through several battles with Seth, the legendary god of Chaos. To the ancient Egyptians, Horus symbolized the sun as a newborn.

Provenance: private French collection; acquired at Berge, Paris; November 2007, lot 493

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#123467

Expected surface wear with pigment loss and minor nicks to peripheries. Nice mineral deposits and some white pigment remain.