Cleveland Museum of Art

Statuette of a Serving Girl

Date

c. 1323–1186 BCE

Medium

terracotta, originally painted

Culture

Egypt, New Kingdom (1540–1069 BCE), Dynasties 18–19

Department

Egyptian and Ancient Near Eastern Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

This statuette of a young serving girl carrying a jar belongs to a select group of hand-modeled figurines usually dated to Dynasties 18 and 19. According to the conventions of Egyptian art, the girl's nudity and the sidelock of hair indicate her young age. No more than a dozen of these statuettes are known. Their distinctive features--slit-like eyes, exaggerated hips, triangular delineation of the legs, and finger-depression of the navel--suggest that all were made in the same workshop. Although their exact function remains unknown, it has been suggested that they magically served the deceased as an object in the tomb. This statuette of a serving girl was likely intended to accompany the deceased in the afterlife.

The authoritative record is held by Cleveland Museum of Art. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.