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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
1953.118
Title
Anthropomorphic female figurine
Other Titles
Former Title: Aphrodite
Classification
Sculpture
Work Type
statuette, sculpture
Date
1450-1200 BCE
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Asia, Cyprus
Period
Bronze Age, Late
Culture
Cypriot
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/291259

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. 4.5 x D. 2 cm (7 1/2 x 1 3/4 x 13/16 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
[P. Kolokasides, Nicosia, Cyprus], sold; to Fogg Museum, 1953.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Alpheus Hyatt Purchasing Fund
Accession Year
1953
Object Number
1953.118
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Descriptions

Description
This hollow, handmade terracotta figurine takes the form of a nude, standing female figure. The figure has large semi-circular ears, each with two vertically-stacked, round, pierced holes. Chevron-shaped incisions on the forehead (the edge of a slightly flattened top of the head) may indicate hair or a brow. The eyes are made from applied circular pellets incised with circles to indicate pupils. The pinched nose is thin, tall, and projecting, lending a “bird-like” appearance to the face. There is no indication of a mouth.

Three horizontal incisions encircle the figurine’s cylindrical neck, perhaps indicating a necklace or collar. The body gradually widens from the neck to form hips, below which the legs narrow, tapering toward the feet.

Applied spheres of clay form cone-shaped breasts. Scars on the sides indicate that arms, once attached and held akimbo, are now missing; the lower scar on either side corresponds to five incised lines on the front of the body, indicating fingers resting on the hips. The navel is indicated through an indented “dimple.” The pubic area is delineated and decorated in incision: outlined with two horizontal lines above and a diagonal line on each leg, smaller gouged incisions fill the triangle, giving the appearance of horizontal bands in an irregular chevron or herringbone pattern. A deep vertical groove demarcates the legs on front and back. On each leg, an indented “dimple” appears to indicate either knee. Small feet project at a downward angle; toes are incised. A small hole in the center of the figurine’s back (which bows out slightly but is not modeled) appears to have been drilled post-firing. Below this, the object’s accession number (1953.118) and “Fogg” are written in red paint; “1955” is written in black in or paint.

Pinkish buff clay with some soil deposits and accretions. Munsell: surface, 5YR 7/4 pink to 7.5 YR 7/4 pink; at break (albeit not a clean break), 7.5 YR 7/2 pinkish grey.
Commentary
Sometimes described as “bird-faced” or “earring” anthropomorphic figurines, terracotta figurines like this have proved difficult to identify with certainty. They were produced and used in Cyprus in the Late Bronze Age (Late Cypriot II to Late Cypriot III periods). While they are usually interpreted relation to divinity and, more specifically, in terms of either or both female fertility and sexuality, greater precision has been elusive: it is not clear that they depict a goddess, let alone a specific goddess. Many known examples either were found in early excavations that did not systematically record precise, stratified findspots or lack both provenience (archaeological findspot) and robust provenance (modern histories of ownership); this state of information means that for many examples, archaeological context can only be brought to bear on the interpretation in limited ways. Where they have been found in situ (in place), they have been found in settlements or burials more frequently than in sanctuaries; use in one context, however, does not preclude others.[1]

Some other examples have earrings, made of terracotta loops, in the holes in the ears; some carry infants.

Their resemblance to Middle Bronze Age terracotta figurines of nude females with beak-like faces, found across the northern Syrian zone (today’s northern Syria and eastern Turkey), has led to the suggestion that the form of these Cypriot figurines was influenced by the Syrian figurines.

[1] See Chapter 4 of Constantina Alexandrou. 2016. Following the Life-Cycle of Base-Ring Female Figurines in Late Bronze Age Cyprus. Ph.D. diss., Trinity College Dublin.

Exhibition History

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

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