M40

Coptic or Byzantine bone female doll

A highly stylised female figure carved from a piece of bone with incised decoration. Both shoulders are pierced for insertion of arms which have since been lost.

These figures are often classified as dolls and may have served as inexpensive toys "recycled" from discarded animal bones.

Byzantine or Coptic, mid to late 1st Millennium AD

A very small section of restoration along one side of the base otherwise intact as shown.

Size: 13.7 x 4.1 cms

Ex. private collection, The Netherlands. Accompanied by a black painted wood display stand.