Figure of the god Harpocrates; Egypt, Roman period, 1st–2nd centuries A.D.

Figure of the god Harpocrates; Egypt, Roman period, 1st–2nd centuries A.D.
Bronze.
Provenance: private collection, Europe.
Measurements: 6.8 cm tall.
A bronze sculpture in the style of full-relief depicting the god Harpocrates nude, wearing a falcon-shaped headdress, and bringing a finger to his mouth. As the child form of Horus, Harpocrates was worshiped beginning in the New Kingdom and symbolizes the weak sun of dawn or the winter sun, naked and unprotected. Just as this sun transforms into a powerful celestial body, the frail child will become the adult Horus—armed and warlike—who will avenge the death of his father, Osiris.