Francesca Hickin
Head of Department
Lot 10
A Cypriot hollow-formed terracotta temple boy
28 November 2019, 10:30 GMT
London, New Bond StreetSold for £4,062.50 inc. premium
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Anna Marston
Associate Specialist
A Cypriot hollow-formed terracotta temple boy
Circa 4th-3rd Century B.C.
The plump child depicted seated with his right knee bent, wearing a necklace of amulets, the tunic falling in loose folds and raised to reveal the genitalia, 33cm high
Circa 4th-3rd Century B.C.
The plump child depicted seated with his right knee bent, wearing a necklace of amulets, the tunic falling in loose folds and raised to reveal the genitalia, 33cm high
Footnotes
Provenance:
The Hayes collection, UK, acquired prior to 1988.
'Temple Boys', thought to represent young males of around two years of age, were found in temples in Cyprus and other parts of the Mediterranean from 5th-3rd Century B.C. There are various theories about their purpose, the most prevalent being that the figures were temple offerings made by parents at a certain stage in a young boy's life in order to place the child under the protection of the god of the sanctuary. For a similarly dressed terracotta temple boy cf. V. Karageorghis, Ancient Art from Cyprus. The Cesnola Collection in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2000, p.268-9, figs 432 and 433.