Brooklyn Museum — Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art · statue

Paddle Doll

Source of record: Brooklyn Museum — Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art — catalogued by the holding institution. View the original record →

Description

Object Label: So-called paddle dolls are flat, schematic representations of naked, legless female figures on which jewelry, belts, and other details have been painted or drawn. Made as fertility figures, they were dedicated to goddesses by women or couples hoping to have children. Some are adorned with strings of mud pellets, apparently imitating hair. Many also have painted images— possibly representing tattoos—of deities such as Bes and Taweret or of human couples in sexual embrace. Caption: Paddle Doll, ca. 2081–1700 B.C.E.. Wood, mud, pigment, 9 x 2 5/8 x 3/16 in. (22.8 x 6.7 x 0.5 cm)Measurements: Ht. 22.8 cm.; greatest width c. 6.7 cm.; thickness 0.5 cm. Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.102E. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)

AI image analysis GPT-4o-2024-08-06

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

Carved wooden artifact with bead decoration resembling a ceremonial object.

The artifact appears to be a carved wooden object with intricate patterns and bead strings attached, suggesting a ceremonial or decorative purpose. The surface features carvings that could represent iconographic or symbolic motifs typical of ancient Egyptian art. This piece exemplifies craftsmanship with its detailed composition and artistic style.

decorative unclear good
Materials wood

Connections

Found at Egypt
Deities Taweret
Materials Wood

Cross-references (2)

  • BKM-Accession 37.102E tier-2
  • BKM-Object 3965 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.