Temple boy statuette

Body from a small seated votive statue of a temple boy. The boy is seated on an oblong base in frontal typical pose with the left leg bent flat on ground close to the front of the body and the right knee raised and pointed to the side at a right angle. The right hand rests on the right thigh and holds a small bird of which only part of its body survives. The left hand rests to the side and holds a round but thin object which may be a ball or a fruit. The boy is wearing a heavily pleated chiton which covers both his legs. A diagonal string or cord littered with pendants plainly starts at the left shoulder but it is unclear whether it disappers under the right armpit or continues on the right shoulder. The boy wears a triple pendant of long prisms or pyramidal pendants with a small mask on his chest. Separating the pendants are signet rings. There are traces of red pigment on the chiton and the pleats at the legs.The statuette's head is missing. There is damage on the chest, neck and shoulders. Temple boys or girls is a term used for the small statues of young boys or girls that have been found mainly at the temple of Apollo Hylates in Kourion and less frequently at the sites of Idalion and Golgoi. The young children who are considered to have been devoted to or protected by the God Apollo are often depicted exposing their genitalia. They are common in Cyprus from the second half of the 5th century BC to early Hellenistic time.