Roman Terracotta Figure Group. 2nd century A.D. A group of votive terracotta figures comprising: a naked dancer with tambourine (tympanum) and a high propoloma on the head; a naked boy holding an amphora on the left shoulder and a small jar under the right arm, the head covered by Egyptian headgear; a bust of the god Harpokrates holding his fingertip just below his mouth, shaved head with the Egyptian royal braid and headgear; each mounted on a custom-made display stand. Cf. The MET, accession no.89.2.2005, for the terracotta statuette of a similar playing woman dressed in Romano-Egyptian style the; Savvopoulos, K., 'Popular divine imagery in Hellenistic and Roman Alexandria; The Annual of the British School at Athens 2019, pp.1-52, figs.22, 23, 24, 37, for the terracotta figurine collection of the Patriarchal Sacristy in Alexandria. 330 grams total, 63-85 mm high (8-11.5 cm including stand) (2 1/2 - 3 1/4 in. (3 - 4 1/2 in.) North London gentleman, in storage since the 1970s. Property of a West London gentleman. These heads are all votive pieces linked to the cult of Egyptian deities within the Roman Empire, and are probably a product of a workshop in Alexandria. The deity’s headpiece comprises two feathers of the Egyptian goddess Maat, the personification of the concepts of truth, harmony and justice, and between them the sun disk, which connects the deity with the sun god Ra, along with Sokar, Ptah and Osiris. The amphora of the young boy looks Hellenistic. The wine amphora carried by the young boy (maybe another representation of Harpokrates himself) is associated with the ‘festival of drunkenness’ and the conception of Harpokrates. [3, No Reserve]

Fine condition.