Jun 25, 2007

Statuette of a Serving Girl

Statuette of a Serving Girl

c. 1323–1186 BC

Terracotta, originally painted

Overall: 38.4 x 9.2 cm (15 1/8 x 3 5/8 in.)

John L. Severance Fund 1991.107

Location

Did you know?

This statuette of a serving girl was likely intended to accompany the deceased in the afterlife.

Description

This statuette of a young serving girl carrying a jar belongs to a select group of hand-modeled figurines usually dated to Dynasties 18 and 19. According to the conventions of Egyptian art, the girl's nudity and the sidelock of hair indicate her young age. No more than a dozen of these statuettes are known. Their distinctive features--slit-like eyes, exaggerated hips, triangular delineation of the legs, and finger-depression of the navel--suggest that all were made in the same workshop. Although their exact function remains unknown, it has been suggested that they magically served the deceased as an object in the tomb.

See also

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