Egyptian statuette of Harpocrates

ITEM: Stauette of Harpocrates
MATERIAL: Bronze
CULTURE: Egyptian, Roman period
PERIOD: 332 B.C - 2nd Century A.D
DIMENSIONS: 24 mm x 6 mm
CONDITION: Good condition
PROVENANCE: Ex Jerusalem private collection, R.J., with Israeli export licence number 57470

Comes with Certificate of Authenticity and Export Licence. If you are from outside the European Union, we will have to apply for the export licence again for your country, this takes 4 to 6 weeks and has a cost of 5% of the amount of the sale, this amount will be added to the final invoice.

Harpocrates was the god of silence in the Hellenistic religion, adapted by the Greeks from the god Horus, who in Egypt represented the rising sun. Harpocrates took on the childish image of Horus: he was usually depicted as a naked child, holding his right index finger to his mouth – while the Egyptians believed that this gesture symbolised childhood, the Greeks understood it as a reference to the sign for silence – using the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt and wearing a side braid.

The name Harpocrates was an adaptation of an Egyptian word that literally translated to Horus, the child. Like his adult version, the god also symbolised the rising sun and the first strength of the winter sun.