Egyptian, Coptic doll

ITEM: Doll
MATERIAL: Bone
CULTURE: Egyptian, Coptic
PERIOD: 7th - 9th Century A.D
DIMENSIONS: 55 mm x 20 mm (without stand)
CONDITION: Good condition. Includes stand
PROVENANCE: Ex Jerusalem private collection, A.L., acquired before 1990s

Comes with Certificate of Authenticity and Export Licence. If you are from outside the European Union, we will have to apply for the export licence again for your country, this takes 3 to 5 weeks and has a cost of 5% of the hammer price, this amount will be added to the final invoice.

These dolls were typically made from bone, ivory, or wood, but bone was particularly common due to its availability and ease of carving. Coptic bone dolls are often found in tombs or as funerary offerings, and they reflect the blend of Egyptian traditional craftsmanship with new cultural and religious influences brought about by Christianization. The dolls are small, typically ranging from 10 to 30 cm in height, and they are often characterized by their simplified, stylized forms and lack of facial details, which contrasts with the more detailed figures from earlier Egyptian periods.

The purpose of these dolls is believed to be both religious and symbolic, serving as part of children’s toys or as ritual objects. In the context of children’s toys, these dolls may have been intended to represent innocence and purity, providing comfort or companionship in a child’s early years. As part of funerary practice, bone dolls likely symbolized a transition to the afterlife and were included in tombs to accompany the deceased. The inclusion of dolls in burials is reminiscent of older Egyptian traditions where miniature figures (such as shabtis) were placed in tombs to serve the deceased in the afterlife. In Coptic Egypt, these dolls may have taken on a more Christian symbolism, serving as representations of innocence or spiritual devotion.

Artistically, Coptic bone dolls reflect the simplified aesthetic that characterized much of Coptic art, which moved away from the more intricate and highly stylized representations of earlier periods. These dolls often show simplified clothing and posture, sometimes with bent or jointed limbs, but without the realistic features seen in earlier Egyptian or Greco-Roman depictions. The simplicity of the dolls' forms may have been a reflection of Christian ideals, where the focus shifted from material wealth and worldly concerns to the spiritual and eternal.