Back to browse highlights

  • 86 of 1,524 results highlights
Statuette of a female

Fullscreen

Related Content

Figurine

Figurine

Lion figurine fragment

Lion figurine fragment

Figurine

Figurine

Horse figurine

Horse figurine

Figurine

Figurine

Browse current and upcoming exhibitions and events.

Exhibitions:

Events:

Events:

Statuette of a female

Period:
Iron Age II
Date:
ca. early 1st millennium B.C.
Geography:
Northwestern Iran, Caspian region
Medium:
Ceramic
Dimensions:
H. 31.3 cm
Classification:
Ceramics
Credit Line:
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1964
Accession Number:
64.130

This artwork is not on display

  • Description

    Some of the most elaborate representations of females in the art of the ancient Near East are images of divine and cult figures whose association with certain aspects of life made them essential to the welfare of humanity. Fertility, procreation, and the growth of crops and livestock were among the basic concepts identified with female divinities. Representations of nude females in clay, stone, and metal are the simplest and most obvious expression of these concepts, and such figures appear throughout antiquity in many regions.


    This striking example in clay from the South Caspian region of northwestern Iran is hollow and probably served as a cult vessel as well as a sacred image.

  • Provenance

    Acquired by the Museum in 1964, purchased from Nuri Farhadi and Habib Anavian, New York.

  • Exhibition History

    "Profil du Metropolitan Museum of Art de New York: de Ramsès à Picasso," Galerie des Beaux-Arts, Bordeaux, May 15–September 1, 1981.

  • References

    Crawford, Vaughn E. 1964. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 23 (2), Ninety-Fourth Annual Report of The Trustees for The Fiscal Year 1963-1964 (Oct., 1964), p. 56.

    Galerie des Beaux-Arts, Bordeaux. 1981. Profil du Metropolitan Museum of Art de New York: de Ramsès à Picasso, exh. cat., no. 18, p. 45.

    Metropolitan Museum of Art. 1981. 5000 Years of Art from the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, exh. cat. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, no. 3.

    Harper, Prudence O. et al. 1984. "Ancient Near Eastern Art." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 41 (4), Spring 1984, p. 24, fig. 25.

  • See also
    What
    Where
    When
    In the Museum
    Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
    MetPublications
30004354

Close