Beschreibung:

EGYPTIAN COPTIC BONE DOLL 7th-8th century AD A D-section carved bone doll with stylised face, saltire and transverse bars to the upper body, round socket to the groin, stub arms and legs with notched ends. 42 grams, 10.5cm (4"). Fine condition; cracked, one arm absent. Provenance From an old German collection; acquired before 1980. Footnotes The exact purpose of bone dolls is not fully understood, though the most obvious is that they were toys for children. Throughout the Roman empire a number of dolls have been found associated with children's graves, most famously the ivory doll found with a mummified girl in a tomb in Rome. However, in antiquity not all figurines and dolls were children's toys and votive figurines which resemble dolls are common. The votive dolls are more schematic with an emphasis on the hips and pudenda, such as in this example. It is likely that they were offered at shrines or used in fertility rituals to assist women conceive and in childbirth.