This figurine is typical of Cypriot coroplastic art of the Late Cypriot II and III periods. The type, with the pubic triangle accentuated and the breasts clearly shown, is likely of Syrian origin, but Cypriot sculptors created their own variations. Handmade and hollow, it has a shaved surface. Her eyes are pellets surrounded by rings. In each large flat ear are two perforations, each containing an earring; the lower ones have overlapping terminals. The infant stretches out its arms and has depressed circles for its eyes.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Terracotta statuette of woman with bird face
Period:Late Cypriot II
Date:ca. 1450–1200 BCE
Culture:Cypriot
Medium:Terracotta; hand-made
Dimensions:H. 8 3/16 in. (20.80 cm)
Classification:Terracottas
Credit Line:The Cesnola Collection, Purchased by subscription, 1874–76
Object Number:74.51.1542
Said to be from Nicosia-Ayia Paraskevi
Cesnola, Luigi Palma di. 1894. A Descriptive Atlas of the Cesnola Collection of Cypriote Antiquities in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Vol. 2. pl. II.11, Boston: James R. Osgood and Company.
Metropolitan Museum of Art. 1895. The Terracottas and Pottery of the Cesnola Collection of Cypriote Antiquities in Halls 4 and 15. no. 57, p. 6, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Richter, Gisela M. A. 1908. "Greek and Roman Terracottas in The Metropolitan Museum of Art." The International Studio, 36: p. 67, fig. 1.
Myres, John L. 1914. Handbook of the Cesnola Collection of Antiquities from Cyprus. no. 2012, p. 335, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Orphanides, Andreas G. 1983. ""Bronze Age Anthropomorphic Figurines in the Cesnola Collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art." Master's Diss.." Master's Diss. no. 9, pp. 11–12, pl. XI.
Merrillees, Robert S. 1988. "Mother and Child: A Late Cypriot Variation on an Eternal Theme." Mediterranean Archaeology, : p. 48.
Karageorghis, Vassos. 1993. The Coroplastic Art of Ancient Cyprus, Vol. 2. no. A(ii)5, p. 6, pl. III.8, Nicosia: Foundation Anastasios G. Leventis.
Karageorghis, Vassos, Joan Mertens, and Marice E. Rose. 2000. Ancient Art from Cyprus: The Cesnola Collection in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. no. 13, pp. 24–25, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Lightfoot, Christopher S. 2000. "The New Cypriot Galleries at The Metropolitan Museum of Art." Minerva, 11(3): pp. 21–23, fig. 17.
Karageorghis, Vassos. 2002. Early Cyprus: Crossroads of the Mediterranean. pl. 109, Los Angeles, California: J. Paul Getty Museum.
Karageorghis, Jacqueline. 2005. Kypris: the Aphrodite of Cyprus: Ancient Sources and Archaeological Evidence. pp. 196–97, fig. 254, Nicosia, Cyprus: Foundation Anastasios G. Leventis.
Picón, Carlos A. 2007. Art of the Classical World in the Metropolitan Museum of Art: Greece, Cyprus, Etruria, Rome no. 266, pp. 229, 458, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Karageorghis, Vassos, Gloria Merker, and Joan R. Mertens. 2016. The Cesnola Collection of Cypriot Art : Terracottas. no. 9, pp. 20–21, 252, Online Publication, [CD-Rom 2004], New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Bombardieri, Luca and Elisa Panero. 2021. Cyprus: Crossroads of Civilizations : exhibition catalog p.139, fig. 5, London: DeArtcom.
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The Museum's collection of Greek and Roman art comprises more than 30,000 works ranging in date from the Neolithic period to the time of the Roman emperor Constantine's conversion to Christianity in A.D. 312.
