Lot Essay
Reeder Williams (op. cit.) places this bronze in a distinct group of Isis-Aphrodite figures, notable for their large scale, silver-inlaid eyes and necklaces that often feature polygonal or oval amulets, among other factors, that position the goddess as one endowed with magical powers and associated with fertility, childbirth and motherhood. In this example, the goddess is depicted nude, wearing an elaborate stephane surmounted by lotus leaves and centered by a sun disc between bovine horns. She wears a necklace with a central crescent-shaped pendant and in her outstretched left hand she holds a flask; the attribute once held in her right hand, perhaps a mirror, is now missing. For a similar example, see the bronze figure in the Römisch-Germanische Museum, Cologne, no. 249a in T.T. Tinh, “Isis,” LIMC, vol. V.
Noteworthy is the Syrian provenance of this bronze. In the 1905 catalogue of the de Clercq collection, de Ridder (op. cit.) records that it originates from Tartus (ancient Antaradus), an important city on the Mediterranean coast. While this figure and related examples were probably imported from Egypt, Reeder Williams suggests that they were viewed by their owners “as depictions of a still more syncretic goddess, Isis-Aphrodite-Astarte” (op. cit., p. 99).
Noteworthy is the Syrian provenance of this bronze. In the 1905 catalogue of the de Clercq collection, de Ridder (op. cit.) records that it originates from Tartus (ancient Antaradus), an important city on the Mediterranean coast. While this figure and related examples were probably imported from Egypt, Reeder Williams suggests that they were viewed by their owners “as depictions of a still more syncretic goddess, Isis-Aphrodite-Astarte” (op. cit., p. 99).