Ceramic female statuette
- Audio guide stop: 354
- Gallery: Room 64
- Culture: Predynastic
- Object type: votive figure
- Materials: ceramic
- Museum number: EA58064
- Museum: The British Museum
- Collection record: British Museum website
- Image © The Trustees of the British Museum, shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 licence.
Listen to the free audio guide
About this object
Before you stands a striking ceramic female statuette from Predynastic Egypt. It shows a woman seated in a stylized pose, with hands resting gently against her breasts and a beak-like face that is both simple and expressive.
Notice the painted details—black geometric patterns cover the figure, with a vivid splash of green around the eyes and red at the neck, emphasizing key features. Created long before Egypt's royal dynasties, this figurine was likely used for ritual or symbolic purposes. The piece is made from ceramic, carefully painted using a hand-applied technique.
You may observe that it is composed of many restored fragments. This statuette was purchased from an Egyptian dealer and shows early efforts to preserve and share Predynastic art.
See it in person
Ceramic female statuette is on display in Room 64 at the British Museum on Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury, London — free to enter. Choose British Museum on audioguide.london and type its audio guide stop number, 354, from the gallery label, or take a photo of it, to hear this free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
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