Lot 7
Egypt, Late Dynastic to Ptolemaic period, ca. 332 to 30 BCE. A charming faience amulet of Harpocrates, the Greco-Roman god of silence, secrets, and confidentiality, depicted as a youth and holding either a cornucopia or the club of Herakles in his right hand. Standing in contrapposto, the robed deity holds one finger of his right hand pressed to his lips in a hushing pose, a typical stance for Harpocrates and an ancient Egyptian convention to indicate children in art. Harpokrates was frequently represented in Hellenistic form, as seen here. The identification of Harpokrates and Herakles seems to go back to warrior characteristics the Egyptian god had acquired in earlier syncretisms with other Egyptian gods. Size: 0.6" W x 1.25" H (1.5 cm x 3.2 cm); 2.4" H (6.1 cm) on included custom stand.
Son of Isis and Osiris, Harpokrates was the Egyptian child god Horus, who avenged his father's death through several battles with Seth, the legendary god of Chaos. He represented the newborn sun, rising each day at dawn and was depicted as a nude boy with his finger to his mouth, as realization of the hieroglyph for "child," as seen in this example. Misunderstanding this gesture, the later Greeks and Roman poets made Harpocrates the god of silence and secrecy.
References to Harpocrates appeared in classical literature, including Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 277 (Roman mythographer c. 2nd century CE) and of course Ovid's Metamorphoses as we see in the following passage, "She saw before her bed, or seemed to see as in a dream, great (Egyptian goddess) Isis with her train of holy deities. Upon her brow there stood the crescent moon-horns, garlanded with glittering heads of golden grain, and grace of royal dignity: and at her side . . . (Harpocrates) the god who holds his finger to his lips for silence's sake." (Ovid, Metamorphoses 9.688 ff - trans. Melville - Roman epic ca. 1st century BCE to 1st century CE)
Cf. Metropolitan Museum of Art, 21.6.52.
Provenance: collection of Dr. W. Benson Harer, Los Angeles, California, USA; ex-Philip Mitry collection, noted antiquarian in Egypt, prior to 1951
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#180929
- Condition: Loss to suspension loop on verso and expected surface wear as shown. Otherwise, mostly intact and excellent with liberal remaining detail and shimmering iridescence in areas.
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