Statuette of Isis

Statuette of Isis carrying a metal sistrum, dressed in a sleeved chiton and fringed tunic knotted between the breasts. She has the typical garb of Isis and her attendants. The statue is small in size but the idealised expression of her face suggests she is the goddess rather than the priestess. She has a regular oval face, broad cheeks, large eyes and a small mouth and does not seem to have any particular facial characteristics that would suggest a portrait of a priestess. She wears a thin diadem that encircles her head and controls the soft waver of the hair off the face and has thick corkscrew curls that fall on the back of the neck. The curls hang parallel to each other and are very different to the hairstyles of statues found in Egypt from the Hellenistic period. Bartman believes this to be a Roman statuette rather than Hellenistic and points out that the thickness of the garment is another indication of its dating to Roman times. There are restorations on both arms from the elbow, the nose, front and top of the Isis knot, some bits of the hair and the drapery. Some re-cutting can be observed on the folds of the left side of the skirt as they are flatter than the right and the bottom edge of the tunics hem and the feet.