Female Figurine in the Brooklyn Museum, March 2010

Female Figurine

The majority of ancient Near Eastern female figures emphasize their fertility. Although the three terracotta (baked clay) figures here come from very different times and places, all are nude and two have overlarge, patterned pubic areas. Their faces are rudimentary, with little or no indication of a mouth. The copper figure, though very schematically modeled, suggests a real woman with pulled-back hair and a bulging belly, wearing a knee-length skirt and carrying an infant on her back. In contrast, the marble image, with its circular head, long neck, and U-shaped body, is reduced almost to abstraction.

This text refers to these objects: 22.12; 51.117; 72.133; L86.1.9; 1996.146.5

Medium: Terracotta

Place Made: Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq, Turkey, & Syria)

Dates: late 3rd millennium B.C.E.

Dimensions: 5 1/2 x 3 9/16 x 13/16 in. (14 x 9 x 2 cm)

Collections: Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

Museum Location: This item is on view in Egypt Reborn: Art for Eternity, Ancient Middle Eastern Art, The Hagop Kevorkian Gallery, 3rd Floor

Accession Number: 72.133

Credit Line: Gift of Helena Simkhovitch in memory of her father, Vladimir G. Simkhovitch

Text from: www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/98871/Femal...