Advanced Search 
Nereid on Hippocamp
Byzantine, Coptic
Early Byzantine Period
4th-5th century A.D.
Place of Manufacture: Egypt, Alexandria
Medium/Technique
Bone
Dimensions
Height x width: 4.8 × 9 cm (1 7/8 × 3 9/16 in.)
Credit Line
John Michael Rodocanachi Fund
Accession Number57.695
CollectionsEurope, Ancient Greece and Rome
ClassificationsSculpture
DescriptionFragment of a bone plaque. A nude female figure, a Nereid, with wavy hair drawn back, is seen from her backside. She seems to swim alongside or tries to mount the back of a spotted sea horse (hippocamp) facing in the opposite direction. This plaque was undoubtedly part of a larger group of plaques intended to decorate a wooden box or piece of furniture—as part of a group dedicated to the theme of Nereids and other sea creatures that were popular in late Roman and early Byzantine Egypt.
ProvenanceBy 1905: Joseph von Kopf Collection, Rome; by 1957: with Dr. Antonio Agostini, Rome; purchased by MFA from Dr. Antonio Agostini, November 14, 1957 for $ 300- (this figure is the total price for 57.691-699)