Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Statuette of a Female Dwarf and Baby
Middle Kingdom
Not on view
This object is not part of The Met collection. It was in the Museum for a special exhibition and has been returned to the lender.
Carved from a single block of wood, this statuette captures a young woman of dwarf proportions tightly holding an infant against her hip. Her buttocks and legs are sculpted in voluminous curves, but the relatively flat chest perhaps indicates a girl rather than an adult. The figure was originally set into a separate base. Although its precise meaning is uncertain, it likely carried some protective significance for mothers and children.
Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
