Paddle Doll
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-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 carved Egyptian doll-like figure with long, tassel-like arms and legs, decorated with incised hieroglyph-like strokes on its body.
A figure resembling a “paddle doll” is photographed against a plain background. The body appears roughly paddle-shaped with a pointed lower end and is covered in rows of incised lines that resemble hieroglyphic or decorative register-like markings, though the exact signs cannot be confidently read from the image. At the top, a small head-like protrusion holds bundled cords/strands (possibly braided fiber) and short hanging elements. Two long, draped bundles extend diagonally from the sides, with additional dangling strips or tassels at the ends, giving a puppet/doll character. No clearly legible cartouche, royal titulary, or deity iconography is visible. No Greek/Coptic/Arabic text is visible. The catalogued materials include wood, mud, and pigment; the photo clearly shows a wooden/modeled body with surface discoloration consistent with pigment or weathering, and the layered markings could relate to mud/plaster, but mud itself is not directly distinguishable in the monochrome image.
Connections
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.