Fragmentary Statue of a Figure with Dwarfism
Description
Object Label: This statue is a typical Hellenistic genre figure, sitting perhaps in the pose of an Egyptian scribe, with the legs crossed in front of the body. The combination of Greek and Egyptian styles suggests that this piece was made in an Alexandrian workshop at the end of the Ptolemaic Period or later. In Greece, as in Egypt, physical anomalies were seen as a mark of special knowledge and connection with the gods. Both ancient cultures associated deities with dwarfism with fertility and the protection of families, especially mothers and children. Caption: Fragmentary Statue of a Figure with Dwarfism, 1st century B.C.–1st century C.E.. Granite, 16 5/16 x 16 3/4 x 18 1/2 in. (41.5 x 42.5 x 47 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 48.9. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)
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.
A fragment of a carved stone statue, showing the upper torso/arms of a seated figure; the lower portion is broken off.
The image depicts a dark gray, roughly rectangular-to-rounded fragment of granite sculpture. Only part of the figure survives: a thick, broad upper torso with a rounded shoulder mass is visible, along with portions of two arms/forearms extending outward. The top contour suggests the statue’s head or upper headdress is missing due to breakage. The front surfaces show worn, chiseled modelling and weathering; no clear attributes of specific persons or iconographic markers can be distinguished from the photograph. There is no legible hieroglyphic, Greek, Latin, Coptic, or Arabic text visible on the fragment; similarly, no cartouche or royal name is discernible. The overall style and material are consistent with a carved statuary fragment, though the image alone does not allow confident confirmation of the “dwarfism” subject (the preserved proportions are unclear because of breakage).
Cross-references (2)
- BKM-Accession 48.9 tier-2
- BKM-Object 60980 tier-2
About this record's data
- From the source institution — accession, description, dimensions, and dating are as catalogued by Brooklyn Museum — Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art.
- AI-inferred — the image-analysis panel (deities, names, signs) is machine-generated and may be wrong.
- Approximate location — most map points are plotted at the site centroid, not the exact findspot.
- Inferred links — cross-references marked with a match method other than explicit-source-field were matched by us, not stated by the source.