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Gallery Text

Of Fragments and Forgeries

These figurines—with their curious faces (sometimes deemed “bird-like”), elaborate headdresses, and emphatic hips—are puzzling. Examples like numbers 1–4 [1998.15.16; 1992.256.12.1–3; 2022.242.1–3; 1969.177.86.1–2] have been found across today’s northern Syria and southeastern Türkiye (Turkey) in sanctuaries and graves dating from the second millennium BCE. Their applied breasts and incised pubic triangles mark them as female, encouraging modern interpretations about fertility and sexuality. Number 5 [1953.118], likely made on the island of Cyprus, shows similar features, attesting to ideas about female bodies shared between distant but connected communities of the eastern Mediterranean and western Asia during the Bronze Age.

Who exactly do they depict? Goddesses or worshippers? Both or neither? Any answers are complicated by wrinkles in their modern stories that raise a more urgent question: are these objects even ancient?

All six figurines moved through the art market without documented findspots, making it difficult to interpret them or even assess their authenticity. Number 6 [1999.252] may be a modern forgery. And while numbers 2–4 [1992.256.12.1–3; 2022.242.1–3; 1969.177.86.1–2] arrived at Harvard as single objects, each, in fact, comprises several pieces that are not original to each other. It is not clear whether the fragments are all ancient, all modern, or a combination of both. Displayed here disassembled, the objects offer a cautionary tale about the uncertainty that accompanies poorly documented paths on the art market.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1999.252
Title
Anthropomorphic female figurine (modern forgery?)
Other Titles
Former Title: Standing Woman, possibly a Fertility Goddess, from Northern Syria
Classification
Sculpture
Work Type
statuette, sculpture
Date
2000-1600 BCE or modern
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Asia, Syria, Northern Syria
Period
Bronze Age, Middle
Culture
Syrian
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/191343

Location

Location
Level 3, Room 3440, Ancient Mediterranean and Middle Eastern Art, Ancient Middle Eastern Art in the Service of Kings
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Physical Descriptions

Medium
Terracotta
Technique
Handmade
Dimensions
H. 19 x W. 6.5 x D. 4.5 cm (7 1/2 x 2 9/16 x 1 3/4 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Elsa Schmid, Rye, NY (by 1955-1970(?)), by descent; to Peter G. Neumann, Palo Alto (1970(?) -1999), gift; to the Harvard University Art Museums, 1999.

1. Elsa Schmid (b. 1897–d. 1970). This object was deposited on loan to the Fogg Art Museum (no. 11643.7) on January 10, 1955, and marked returned on September 21, 1956.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Peter G. Neumann
Accession Year
1999
Object Number
1999.252
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
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Descriptions

Description
A nude female figure stands on a low, square base. Incised chevron-shaped marks across the top front of the head indicate hair or a headdress; the top of the head is concave. The eyes are large and round, formed by applied circular pellets deeply indented in center with a circular, pointed tool. The nose is prominent, triangular and beak-like. No mouth is indicated. On either side of the face, three round indented pellets (formed like the eyes) represent hair (“perforated curls”?), ears, or part of a headdress. On the back of the head, hair or a headdress in the shape of a truncated crescent gives the appearance of a bobbed haircut and is decorated by short vertical incisions.

The figure wears a necklace or collar that is made, in the front, of a broad applied strip incised into three tiers and decorated with short, diagonal hatch marks (alternating direction in each tier to create a chevron-like effect). On the figure’s back, this applied necklace connects to incised lines, continuing each tier as a deep “V” that turns to vertical lines reaching the waist (and the groove at back between the legs).

Broad shoulders slope downwards. The arms are bent at the elbow, with hands held to breasts. On each wrist, a bracelet is indicated by incised outline and linear decoration. Fingers are sketchily incised, with five on the proper right hand and six on the proper left. A round indentation marks the navel, below which hips broaden sideways from a narrow torso. The pubic triangle is delineated by outline and filled by short, diagonal incised hatches. Legs, which taper from the hips toward the base, are marked by a deep central groove on both front and back, indicative of the forming technique (the arm and leg on each side were formed by a roll of clay; each side was joined together at the figure’s torso, with an additional piece of clay to form the head and neck joined horizontally at the level of the shoulder). On the back, there are two round indentations above the hips on the back. The buttocks are modeled.

At the bottom, the legs merge into a columnar shape that broadens toward the base, though the groove separating the legs is retained at the front. From this, feet are articulated at front and on the frontal portion of the sides; they are not indicated on the back. The toes are delineated by incision, with five toes on the proper right and six on the left. The front face of the base is decorated with diagonal hatch marks, creating a chevron pattern. Technical examination has shown that the base was detached and reattached in the past; it is not clear whether the base is or is not original to the object.

Munsell soil color reading: 10YR 8/1 white to 7/2 light grey.
Commentary
This figurine resembles terracotta figurines of nude female figures (sometimes interpreted as representations of a mother goddess or another female divinity) made in the second millennium BCE in the Euphrates River region (northern Syria) at sites like Selenkahiye, Habuba Kabira, and especially Mari (Tell Hariri). However, the specific combination of individual characteristics of this figurine, as well as a few details, like the delineated feet and plinth, do not find consistent, reliable parallel among the terracotta figurines from those and other sites. This object may be a modern creation—that is, a forgery. Further research may clarify its (in?)authenticity but, at present, typological and technical examinations have been inconclusive.

Exhibition History

  • 32Q: 3440 Middle East, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 06/15/2023 - 01/01/2050

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu