Greek-Roman Period , 3rd century BC - 2nd century AD
Terracotta
Height 15.5 cm ( 6 1⁄8 in )
Width 11 cm ( 4 3⁄8 in )
Former private collection B., Germany prior to 1990
F.Graf, Der Neue Pauly: Enzyklopädie der Antike, "Baubo", Verlag J.B. Metzler, Heidelberg 2003
F.Dunand, Terre cuites Greco-Romaines d'Egypte, Département des antiquités égyptiennes, Louvre, Paris 1990
W.Schürmann, Katalog der antiken Terracotten im badischen Landesmuseum Karlsruhe, Göteborg 1989
Naked female figure seated with her legs apart and her arms raised showing the palms of her hands. The voluptuous body is adorned with only a chain crossing above her breast and a bracelet on either wrist. Her hair has been artistically pinned up and decorated with flowers.
The name Baubo is given to several different types of figurines, most of them terracotta. The oldest type of figurine given this label is the Priene type. The second type of Baubo figurine comes from Egypt, and is split into two groups. The first group depicts a woman seating frontally on a large pig, whilst holding a musical instrument. In some of these figurines her right hand is touching her genitalia. The second group depicts a woman crouching on the ground, holding her legs apart. The genitalia are always very apparent. Many of them were used as amulets.
Elements that appear on some of the figurines of this type, such as a lotus crown and sistrum, along with the fact that they were produced in Egypt, has led scholars to suggest that these are votive offerings to Isis from women asking for fertility or from pregnant women wanting to give birth soon. Thus, despite the name, there is no reason to assume that these figures are supposed to depict the Baubo from Greek myth, though the connection cannot be ruled out.