Collections: Egyptian, Classical, and Ancient Middle Eastern Art: Paddle Doll

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Paddle Doll

"Paddle dolls" earned their nickname because of their resemblance to modern Ping-Pong paddles. They all show exaggerated depictions of female genitalia. Some are decorated with rudimentary drawings of couples engaged in sexual intercourse, and others have images of birth gods. The iconography of birth and reproduction suggests that the Egyptians believed "paddle dolls" enhanced fertility for the living and probably also for the dead.

• Medium: Wood, mud, faience, pigment
• Place Made: Egypt
• Dates: ca. 2008-1630 B.C.E.
• Dynasty: late XI Dynasty-early XIII Dynasty
• Period: Middle Kingdom
• Dimensions: 8 x 2 1/16 in. (20.3 x 5.2 cm)
• Collections: Egyptian, Classical, and Ancient Middle Eastern Art
• Museum Location: This item is on view in Egypt Reborn: Art for Eternity, Old Kingdom to 18th Dynasty, Egyptian Galleries, 3rd Floor
• Accession Number: 16.84
• Credit Line: Gift of Evangeline Wilbour Blashfield, Theodora Wilbour, and Victor Wilbour honoring the wishes of their mother, Charlotte Beebe Wilbour, as a memorial to their father, Charles Edwin Wilbour
• Image: Overall, 16.84_SL1.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
Paddle Doll, ca. 2008-1630 B.C.E. Wood, mud, faience, pigment, 8 x 2 1/16 in. (20.3 x 5.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Evangeline Wilbour Blashfield, Theodora Wilbour, and Victor Wilbour honoring the wishes of their mother, Charlotte Beebe Wilbour, as a memorial to their father, Charles Edwin Wilbour, 16.84 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 16.84_SL1.jpg)