Figurine of nude seated female

On display

Title

Figurine of nude seated female
Associated place

Izmir (place of purchase)
Date

Early Bronze Age (c. 3500 - c. 2000 BC)
Material and technique

terracotta, hand-modelled and with punched and incised decoration
Object type

figurine
Dimensions

9.7 cm (height)
5.4 cm (width)
No. of items

1
Credit line

Purchased, 1910.
Museum location

Ground floor | Gallery 19 | Ancient Near East
Museum department

Antiquities
Accession no.

AN1910.697

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Catalogue text

Seated; handmodelled; baked; coarse buff fabric with a burnished red slip, worn off on the flat base; two holes are pierced in the lower back and one in the centre of the base; the slightly damaged face was applied as a disk, tipped back so that the chin projects, on the front of the head; the eyebrows and nose are a continuous projecting ridge; the eyes are deep-punched holes in incised oval frames; the mouth is an incised slit with vertical incisions below on the chin ("beard"); the ears and what was originally a major protrusion ("polos"); on the head are broken off; the upper body is flattened, with triangular shape accentuated by projecting shoulders; attenuated arms extended down either side of the body with the hands grasping the knees; incised lines on the upper arms and shoulders; incised crossing straps and what may be a necklace; pointed breasts with incised nipples; genitals represented by an incised rectangular with incised dots inside it; short lower body with stump legs.

In: Moorey, P. R. S., Ancient Near Eastern Terracottas (Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 2005)

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