A LATE HELLENISTIC OR EARLY ROMAN BRONZE FIGURE OF ISIS

CIRCA 1ST CENTURY B.C.

Details

A LATE HELLENISTIC OR EARLY ROMAN BRONZE FIGURE OF ISIS
Circa 1st Century B.C.
Standing with her right knee bent forward, the heel of her right foot raised, her weight in her left hip, draped in the traditional Egyptian tripartite female ensemble with a himation over a chiton, knotted between her breasts, the folds conforming to the curves of her body, the knot enhancing the shape of her breasts, her himation hanging over her right shoulder and falling behind like a cape, her sandaled feet emerging from below the drapery, her center-parted hair pulled into a chignon with individual cork-screw plaits falling along her shoulders, her head angled slightly to her left, her countenance solemn, the separately-made arms missing
13 in. (33 cm) high

Provenance

Lucille Ellis Simon

Lot Essay

Although the knotted garment and the cork-screw curls are typical for images of Isis, the lack of a crown suggests our figure may represent a priestess at her cult.

For a figure of Isis with similar treatment of the drapery see no. 16 in Petit, Bronzes Antiques de la Collection Dutuit, Grecs, hellénistiques, romains et de l'Antiquité tardive.

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