Description
Cast in solid copper and executed with a remarkable degree of sophistication, this statuette is thought to represent a supernatural being that served as an intermediary between the physical world and the spiritual realm. It depicts a muscular, bearded male wearing a headdress of goat horns and ears, a raptor skin over his shoulders, a cylindrical belt around his trim waist, and ankle boots with long, curved toes. His eyes are inlaid with bits of shell or stone; the now-missing pupils were probably made from a contrasting material. It is one of a pair of virtually identical figures (the other is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York) that are unlike anything else that is known today.
Accession Number
206785
Medium
Copper
Dimensions
17.2 × 5.7 × 5.7 cm (6 3/4 × 2 1/4 × 2 1/4 in.)
Classification
ritual objects
Credit Line
Anonymous loan