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© Museum Associates 2026
Collections

Model Shrine304 BCE–395 CE

On view:
Geffen Galleries, floor 1
Terracotta relief plaque with multiple registers depicting a bird in a niche, two flanking human figures, offering stands with food, and small animals along the lower edge
Terracotta plaque with molded relief decoration in tan clay. Upper register shows a bird on a pedestal flanked by columns with a winged figure above; middle register features two standing figures at the sides flanking a bowl of offerings; lower register depicts a robed figure before an altar-like form, with small animals at the base corners.

Unknown, Shrine, 304 BCE - 395 CE, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Gift of Jerome F. Snyder, photo © Museum Associates/LACMA

Title
Model Shrine
Place Made
Egypt or Eastern Mediterranean
Date Made
304 BCE–395 CE
Medium
Terracotta
Dimensions
8 3/8 x 4 5/16 in. (21.3 x 11 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Jerome F. Snyder
Accession Number
M.80.202.271
Classification
Sculpture
Collecting Area
Egyptian Art
Curatorial Notes

Mold-made Greco-Roman Egyptian terracottas provide valuable information to scholars documenting aspects of daily life in ancient times. Terracottas were molded of inexpensive clay and, when baked, could serve as grave goods or devotional images for domestic shrines. Some examples are believed to have been articulated toys for children. This multitiered terracotta shrine displays complex imagery. At the top, a birdlike creature, possibly the god Thoth, sits within a columned shrine topped with a uraeus frieze. On the stepped shrine below are a central element of a pedestal with offerings and a vessel holding fruit. To either side, seated figures with hands on knees, possibly baboons topped with a sun disk, act as witnesses. At the base of each seated figure, a recumbent animal, likely a cat with kittens, reclines adjacent to the steps. The iconography is difficult to determine on this weathered terracotta, but the overall impact is of a votive image reflecting the blended religion of this period.