Paddle Doll in the Brooklyn Museum, January 2010

Paddle Doll

So-called paddle dolls are flat, schematic representations of naked, legless female figures on which jewelry, belts, and other details have been painted or drawn. Made as fertility figures, they were dedicated to goddesses by women or couples hoping to bear children. Some are adorned with strings of mud pellets, apparently imitating hair. Many aslo have painted images—possibly representing tattoos—of deities such as Bes and Taweret or of human coupls in sexual embrace.


Medium: Wood, clay

Place Made: Egypt

Dates: ca. 2081-1700 B.C.E.

Dynasty: XI Dynasty-XIII Dynasty

Period: Middle Kingdom

Dimensions: 8 3/4 x 2 1/2 x 1/4 in. (22.3 x 6.3 x 0.7 cm)

Collections: Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

Museum Location: This item is on view in Egypt Reborn: Art for Eternity, Egyptian Orientation Gallery, 3rd Floor

Accession Number: 37.101E

Credit Line: Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund

Text from: www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/3964/Paddle...