Egyptian Ptolemaic Glass Hand Votive

Egypt, Ptolemaic to early Romano-Egyptian period, ca. 332 BCE to first half of 1st century CE. A wonderful example of a mold-formed right hand shaped from opaque glass of a fleshy, orange-yellow hue. The three-dimensional hand exhibits a flat form with outstretched fingers and a retracted thumb, incised skin creases, and delineated nail beds. While the topside is naturalistically detailed, the underside shows the rough outline of the utilized mold. Votive hands like this example and other votive glass body parts were meant to decorate the recessed slots in limestone reliefs and wooden coffins. Size: 5.7" L x 2.25" W (14.5 cm x 5.7 cm)

For a stylistically similar example of a clenched hand from the Late Dynastic to Ptolemaic Period, please see The Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession number 17.194.2299.

Provenance: ex-Dr. Sid Port collection, California, USA, acquired in the 1970s; ex-Norman Blankman collection, New York, USA, acquired in the 1950s in Cairo, Egypt

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#153319
Condition Report: This piece has been professionally cleaned and conserved. Loss to tip of thumb as shown. Minor nicks and abrasions to fingers, topside, and underside, with light encrustations within underside, and minor fading to original pigment. Nice remains of original pigment along topside.