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Egyptian Limestone Fertility FigureAn ancient Egyptian limestone fertility figure or concubine depicted nude with her hands at her sides with a large wig falling to her breasts. Middle Kingdom, 12th - 17th Dynasty, Egyptian nude female figurines of this type, with incomplete legs, jewelry, often an elaborate hairdo, and sometimes tattoos, were once thought to serve as symbolic concubines for men in the afterlife. They have since been determined to function as fertility figurines for both men and women. Most were dedicated in shrines of Hathor and other goddesses by those hoping to have a child. cf.:Penn Archaeology Museum, Philadelphia, inv. no. E482; Brooklyn Museum, inv. no. 4825. Formerly in a New Jersey private collection, deaccessioned from the Newark Museum of Art, inv. no. 46.40.5. Inv#: 7932 Sold |
