The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 18, 2024

Statuette of Harpocrates

Statuette of Harpocrates

c. 50 BCE
bronze, hollow cast, with silver inlays
Overall: 27 x 10.2 x 8.6 cm (10 5/8 x 4 x 3 3/8 in.)
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1972.6
Location: not on view

Description

The Greek deity Harpocrates’s name is an adaptation of Hor-pa-khred, the Egyptian word for Horus, the ancient Egyptian sun god. The statuette’s features may seem to align with Greek artistic values for representing naturalism in art rather than echo ancient Egyptian style. Yet, the statuette references ancient Egyptian religion, specifically Horus’s origin story, including the index finger over the mouth, a gesture commonly associated with his childhood. Additionally, the hole in the top front of the statue’s head is where a double crown of Egypt would have been, known as a pschent, conveying Horus’ ascension as pharaoh.
  • Probably Alexandria
    Private Collection, England (said to have been purchased in Egypt about a century ago)
    -1972
    Robert Hecht, Jr., Rome, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1972-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Oh
  • Cleveland Museum of Art, and Arielle P. Kozloff. An Introduction to the Art of Egypt in the Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland]: [The Museum], 1970. p. 19
    Cooney, John D. "Harpocrates, the Dutiful Son." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 59, no. 10 (1972) pp. 284-90 www.jstor.org
    Lee, Sherman E. "The Year in Review for 1972." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 60, no. 3 (1973) p. 106 www.jstor.org
    Zick, Gisela. "Amor0Harpokrates: Zur Wirkungsgeschichte und Ikonographischen Herleitung einer Skulptur von Etienne0Maurice Falconet," Wallraf-Richartz-Jahrbuch 37 (1975). pp. 224-25 fig. 18
    Richardson, Emeline, and G. Kenneth Sams. Small Sculptures in Bronze from the Classical World: An Exhibit in Honor of Emeline Hill Richardson : The William Hayes Ackland Memorial Art Center and the Department of Classics of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, March 7-April 18, 1976. [Chapel Hill, N.C.]: The Center, 1976. Cat. No. 33
    Swan Hall, Emma. "Harpocrates and Other Child Deities in Ancient Egyptian Sculpture." Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt (JARCE) 56 (1977). pp. 56-7, pl. XXVII
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 27 archive.org
    Kozloff, A.P. "Harpocrates and the Sacred Goose." The Ancient World 3, No. 3 (September 1980). figs. 4-5
    Kozloff, Arielle P. "The Egyptian Collection of the Cleveland Museum o Art," Newsletter of the American Research Center in Egypt 125 (Spring 1984) p. 11
    Kozloff, Arielle P., David Gordon Mitten, and Suzannah Fabing. The Gods Delight: The Human Figure in Classical Bronze. Cleveland, Ohio: Published by the Cleveland Museum of Art in cooperation with Indiana University Press, 1988. Cat. No. 21
    Kozloff, Arielle P. Classical Art: A Brief Guide to the Collection, the Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland]: The Museum, 1989. p. 15, fig. 31
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1991. Reproduced: p. 12 archive.org
    Cleveland Museum of Art, Lawrence Michael Berman, and Kenneth J. Bohač. Catalogue of Egyptian Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland, OH]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1999. pp. 474-475, Cat. No. 367
  • Egyptomania: Fashion's Conflicted Obsession. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 1, 2023-January 28, 2024).
    The Gods Delight: The Human Figure in Classical Bronze. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (16 November 1988- 8 January 1989); The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (9 February - 9 April 1989); Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Boston, MA (9 May - July 1989)
    Small Sculptures in Bronze from the Classical World, William Hayes Ackland Memorial Art Center, Chapel Hill, N.C., (March 7 - April 18, 1976)
    Year in Review: 1972. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 27-March 18, 1973).
  • {{cite web|title=Statuette of Harpocrates|url=false|author=|year=c. 50 BCE|access-date=18 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1972.6