Plaque with nude female in a shrine niche

Unknown

600–275 BC · Limestone, paint · Egyptian Art

Limestone or terracotta plaques showing nude women in the niche of an Egyptian-form shrine were popular from 600-275 BC. Sometimes architectural pediments are carved and Bes figures or Hathor columns may be represented beside the niche; here traces of paint on the jambs can no longer be resolved into any particular form. The bobbed-haired voluptuous woman has a long history in the first millennium, but no precise identity. Small plaques like these are probably to be associated with the informal artworks distributed in conjunction with festivals celebrating a divine birth and fertility.

Artist

Unknown

Date

600–275 BC

Medium

Limestone, paint

Department

Egyptian Art

Credit line

Gift of Lily S. Place, 1923