Female Figure
Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art
This figurine, one of the oldest statuettes ever excavated in Egypt, perhaps represents a priestess or a goddess dancing or performing ritualized mourning at a funeral ritual.
MEDIUM
Clay, pigment
DATES
ca. 3650–3300 B.C.E.
PERIOD
Predynastic Period, Naqada IIa Period
DIMENSIONS
13 3/8 x 5 x 2 1/2 in. (34 x 12.7 x 6.4 cm)
(show scale)
ACCESSION NUMBER
07.447.502
CREDIT LINE
Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION
Terracotta figurine of a woman, similar to No. 505, but narrower. Small head, with beak-like face, on long neck, expanding to shoulders. Rather long breasts. Waist gracefully curving into uplifted arms, with hands turned in and pointed, thumbs detached, fingers separated by sharp grooves on both sides, and probably graded as in No. 505; wrists and elbows not indicated. Long legs, without feet, peg-shaped, their separation indicated by very shallow groove. Proportions rather more elongated than natural. "Steatopygy" pronounced; torso flat. Fine brownish pottery, painted red no body; black (thickly laid on) on hair; whitish, indicating cloth, from hips down; blackened near "feet" in front. Very fine specimen.
Condition: Lacking left hand and fingers of right hand. Lower part repaired, twice near "knees"; right arm repaired at elbow; left arm repaired at shoulders. Some repainting on torso. White paint and "hair" mostly lost.
MUSEUM LOCATION
This item is not on view
CAPTION
Female Figure, ca. 3650–3300 B.C.E. Clay, pigment, 13 3/8 x 5 x 2 1/2 in. (34 x 12.7 x 6.4 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 07.447.502. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 07.447.502_SL1.jpg)
IMAGE
07.447.502_SL1.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
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RIGHTS STATEMENT
Creative Commons-BY
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