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Stamp Seal in the Shape of a Boy

Middle Kingdom
ca. 1981–1640 B.C.
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 110
This small, fine statuette of a boy is actually a stamp seal. The underside of its base is incised with the name and titles of the owner, Mentuhotep, enclosed by a border of linked S-scrolls. Nudity and a shaved head with a lock of hair were used to designate children; the gesture of the hand to the mouth may be a request for feeding. Such imagery carried connotations of vitality and the promise of future life.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Stamp Seal in the Shape of a Boy
  • Period: Middle Kingdom
  • Dynasty: Dynasty 12–13
  • Date: ca. 1981–1640 B.C.
  • Geography: From Egypt
  • Medium: Boxwood
  • Dimensions: H. 5.7 cm (2 1/4 in.); W. 3.5 cm (1 3/8 in.); D. 3.8 cm (1 1/2 in.)
  • Credit Line: Theodore M. Davis Collection, Bequest of Theodore M. Davis, 1915
  • Object Number: 30.8.89
  • Curatorial Department: Egyptian Art

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