Statuette of a boy dressed as an orator. His left hand may have been holding a scroll. Possibly the representation of a student of rhetoric in Alexandria, Egypt? Made of bronze. Original find-spot is unknown. Greek, Hellenistic period, ca. 150-50 BCE. Courtesy of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the John H. & Ernestine A. Payne Fund (#59.11). mfa.org. Public Domain.

A smiling man. Greek, Ptolemaic/Hellenistic period, ca. 200 BCE -100 BCE. From Egypt, Naukratis (a Greek colony). A terracotta head broken off from a statuette. Its style suggests it could be a comic piece. Courtesy of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Egypt Exploration Fund (#86.414). mfa.org. Public Domain.

Seated youth. This figurine is from a black steatite box lid. Greek or Roman, from the Hellenistic or Roman Imperial Period, ca. 100 BCE – 100 CE. This figure is unclothed with what appear to be fetters on his ankles, so may represent an enslaved person. Another reason to suspect he may represent an enslaved ‘servant’, is that servants ‘held’ things (as does the box whose lid was decorated with this image). Courtesy of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Henry Lillie Pierce Fund (#01.8210). mfa.org. Public Domain.

Fragmented statuette of a man (possibly a gladiator). Made of copper alloy. Possibly from Egypt, Hellenistic or Roman work, ca. 100s BCE – 100s CE. Courtesy of the Menil Collection (#1984-25.DJ). Public Domain.

Head of a veiled figure. Mold-made terracotta. Broken at the neck from a larger figure, it is hollow & made from a mold. Hellenistic-Egyptian or Romano-Egyptian, ca. 300 BCE-300 CE. Found in Egypt or elsewhere in Africa. Courtesy of the Menil Collection (#1972-62.33.DJ). Public Domain.

Terracotta figures are common in Egypt, but this fully veiled figure is unusual. Its identity & role are unclear. The individual could either be an entertainer or serve a religious role. Other veiled figures tend to be identifiably women & dancers, but it is hard to tell if this individual is female or male.

Figurines like this were brightly painted; you can see the white base that made painting the statuette easier (the upper layer of paint has worn off over time).

Statuette fragment. The head of a child. Terracotta. Roman, date uncertain. This image can be found on medieval.poc.tumblr.com. Courtesy of the Menil Foundation, Houston TX. Accession number unknown. Public Domain.

Head of a man (broken off from a terracotta statuette). Hellenistic or Roman Egypt, ca. 300 BCE-300 CE. From Egypt, possibly the Faiyum region. Courtesy of the Menil Collection (#Y.107). Public Domain.

Head of a smiling woman (broken from terracotta statue). This image was mold-made & possibly mass-produced. Hellenistic Egyptian or Roman period.Egypt, ca. 300 BCE – 300 CE. Courtesy of the Menil Collection (#1972-62.13.DJ). Public Domain.

Figurines like this were brightly painted; you can see the white base that made painting the statuette easier (the upper layer of paint has worn off over time).

Head of a smiling elderly man. Made of terracotta, he is balding, wrinkled, and possibly blind (his eyes are swollen shut, a way to indicate blindness in this era’s material arts). This head is possibly from a statuette created as a charm/votive offering to a god to protect against the ailments it depicts. He exhibits a realism typical of the Hellenistic & Roman periods, ca. 300 BCE-300 CE. From Egypt. Courtesy of the Menil Collection (#1980.18.04.DJ). Public Domain.

Terracotta handle shaped like African man, possibly from a lamp. Found in Turkey, possibly near the city of Sardis. Greco-Roman, ca. 300 BCE – 300 CE. Image courtesy of the Menil Collection, Houston TX (CA6910). Public Domain.

‘Aithiopian’ means ‘burning (or shining/blazing) face’ because ancients thought darker skin came from sun exposure. Hence, many lamps include ‘Athiopian’ imagery as a type of iconographic pun.

A bent male figure.bronze. From Alexandria, Egypt. Greek, Hellenistic-Roman period, ca. 199 BCE – 1 BCE. Image courtesy of The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore (54.2372). CC0 1.0. Public Domain.

Scholars are unsure if this figure is ducking or pulling something heavy. It has also been suggested that he is dancing (though this seems less likely). This figure might be an enslaved person.

A dancing youth. A Greek bronze. Made in Alexandria, Egypt, possibly found in Armant, Egypt. Ptolemaic/Hellenistic period, ca. 200s-100s BCE. This figure’s ‘frozen action pose’ is common in Ptolemaic bronzes. Image courtesy of The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore (54.702). CC0 1.0. Public Domain.

Head of an ‘Ethiopian.’ Hellenistic, Ptolemaic period, ca. 332-320 BCE. From Egypt. Made of black bronze, gold, carnelian, & obsidian. Courtesy of the Egyptian Art Department, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (Obj. 26.7.1417). Public Domain.

Statuette of a youth. Terracotta, mold-made, hollow. Rhodian, late classical-early Hellenistic period, ca. 390s-200 BCE. Courtesy of the Greek & Roman Art department, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (Obj. 74.51.1701). Public Domain.

Bronze statuette of a young artisan (dressed as a foundry or forge worker). Hellenistic Greek, ca. 200s-100s BCE. Possibly found in Rome? Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; the Rogers Fund 1918 (18.145.10). Public Domain.

Bronze figure of a boy in ‘Eastern’ dress (trousers & pyramidal hat). It resembles work from the Hellenistic world’s eastern borders, like that in the kingdoms of Commagene or Armenia, north of Mesopotamia. Found in Egypt. Ptolemaic or Roman work from the Late Hellenistic or Early Imperial period, ca. 50 BCE -1 BCE. Image courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY; Greek and Roman Art dept (Obj. 49.11.3). Public Domain.