Late Period to Ptolemaic, Ca. 664-30 BCA finely cast bronze figurine of the young god Harpocrates. He is represented nude, infantile, and seated on top of an alabaster stand, with his hands in the whisper position. Harpocrates was the Greek adaptation of the Egyptian god Horus in his youthful form, his name being a Hellenization of the Egyptian 慔ar-Pa-Khered?meaning 'Horus the Child'. Traditionally Horus the Child was associated with the rising sun and with healing and protection, but the Greeks and Romans misinterpreted the Egyptian iconography of him raising a finger to his lips; to the Egyptians this was a gesture of youth (akin to showing a child sucking their thumb today) but the Greeks and Romans saw it as the whisper gesture still used today, and thus Harpocrates became a god of silence and secrets.Size: L:78mm / W:38mm ; 130gProvenance: Property of a West London gentleman; previously in a collection formed on the UK/International art market in the 1980s.