Dancing Dwarf

Description The peaked cap suggests that the dancer is a mime who wears the traditional headdress of a clown or buffoon. Despite, or because of, their deformity, dwarfs held a respected position in Egyptian society and were often credited with magical powers.

Exhibitions

• From Alexander to Cleopatra: Greek Art of the Hellenistic Age. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1988-1989.

Provenance Pozzi Collection Sale, 1919, no. 420; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1919, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Credit Acquired by Henry Walters