Statuette of the God Bes

AI image analysis GPT-5.4-nano

Machine-generated from the object's image on Jul 2026. Not curatorial; treat deities, names, and signs below as the model's best reading, not authority.

The image shows a small standing/waist-up Egyptian deity figurine with a dark-cast or worn surface, characterized by a lion-mane–like headdress and a grotesque, smiling face.

A single figurine is photographed against a plain light background. The figure is squat and human-like from the torso upward, with broad shoulders and a rounded belly, ending near the waist with a simple base. The head has an exaggerated, wrinkled face with thick eyebrows and a wide mouth, and a prominent, mane-like headdress around the upper head and down the sides. Two small, rounded ear-like elements project from the sides of the head. The arms are bent at the sides with hands/forearms shown in relief; the overall modeling and exaggerated facial features are consistent with the common iconography of Bes-type dwarf/god figurines. The object’s surface appears largely monochrome and worn; any original pigmentation is not clearly discernible in the provided photo. No legible inscriptions or hieroglyphs are visible on the body, and no cartouches or royal names can be confidently identified. The material is not explicitly confirmed by the image, but the catalogue’s terracotta attribution is broadly plausible given the matte, cast look; pigment is not clearly readable beyond possible overall discoloration.