Skip Navigation

Osiris on a Lamp

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

MEDIUM Terracotta, pigment
  • Reportedly From: Abusir, Egypt
  • DATES 305–30 B.C.E.
    PERIOD Ptolemaic Period (or later)
    DIMENSIONS 6 11/16 x 3 3/16 x 1 5/8 in. (17 x 8.1 x 4.1 cm)  (show scale)
    ACCESSION NUMBER 37.1630E
    CREDIT LINE Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
    CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Bust of Osiris on a base with a lamp apparently unused. Osiris with a wig; as headdress in the middle the Uraeus-snake, on top of head double crown of Lower and Upper Egypt. On the left side hole pierced through to the back. On both sides of crown buds or feathers? Two pendants on cords or necklaces around neck. The lower one in a square form, the other one under wig, large, with undefined details. Small folds on drapery. Face: Full and heavy with large chin, nose and mouth close together. Back: No modeling. Vent hole only indicated. Paint: Thick slip was covering and hiding the modeled details. Probably black paint to indicate folds of drapery and hairdress. Condition: Surface worn. Nose chipped and right edge of base.
    MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
    CAPTION Osiris on a Lamp, 305–30 B.C.E. Terracotta, pigment, 6 11/16 x 3 3/16 x 1 5/8 in. (17 x 8.1 x 4.1 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.1630E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.37.1630E_NegB_print_bw.jpg)
    IMAGE front, CUR.37.1630E_NegB_print_bw.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2015
    "CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
    RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
    You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
    RECORD COMPLETENESS
    Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.