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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1965.518
Title
Female Head from a Votive Statuette
Classification
Sculpture
Work Type
head, sculpture
Date
c. 2600 BCE-2400 BCE
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Asia
Period
Early Dynastic III period
Culture
Sumerian
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/289241

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Alabaster
Dimensions
Height: 4.8 cm (1 7/8 in.)

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Norbert Schimmel
Accession Year
1965
Object Number
1965.518
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Descriptions

Description
Head broken off at neck. The hair, falling in triple strands on the forehead and sides, is arranged to form a circular roll around the top of the head to the back. The eyes are hollowed for inlay. Nose and chin are damaged and overall there are surface abrasions.

The head is probably from a votive statue, similar to those found as part of the sculpture hoard from the Abu-Temple at Tell Asmar, and is likely to have performed a similar function. Votive statues varied in size and shape and were placed in temples, buried under the floor or built into the shrine. The figures, often shown making a gesture of prayer, were intended to represent the worshipper before the god.

Publication History

  • David Gordon Mitten and Amy Brauer, Dialogue with Antiquity, The Curatorial Achievement of George M. A. Hanfmann, exh. cat., Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, MA, 1982), p. 16, no. 64.

Exhibition History

  • The Art of Sumer and Akkad, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Boston, 04/03/1973 - 05/27/1973
  • Dialogue with Antiquity: The Curatorial Achievement of George M.A. Hanfmann, Fogg Art Museum, 05/07/1982 - 06/26/1982

Verification Level

This record was created from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator; it may be inaccurate or 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