Ancient Near East, Mesopotamia, 6th millennium BCE. A female fertility idol carved from alabaster. She stands on attenuated, stubby legs with her right arm held straight by her side and her left arm folded across her breast. Her oval-shaped head has a pointed crown, arched incisions to indicate eyes and brows, and a pronounced pyramidal nose. Her corpulent body presents a short thick neck, pendulous breasts, a distended belly, and fleshy thighs. Additional incisions indicate the cleft between her legs, her pubic triangle, and her knees/ankles. Size: 2.25" H (5.7 cm)

Figurines such as this have been found in graves from the level 1 cemetery at Tell es-Sawwan. See "Der Garten in Eden" (Berlin, 1978), cat. Nos. 2-14, pp. 13 & 74-70; Annie Caubet & Marthe Bernus-Taylor, "The Louvre: Near Eastern Antiquities" (London, 1991), p. 15; Fiorella Ippolitoni Strika, "Small Treasures of the Iraq Museum," Chapter 4 in Milbry Polk & Angela M. H. Schuster, eds., "The Looting of the Iraq Museum", Baghdad (New York, 2005), pp. 66-77.

Provenance: ex. Collection of Richard Wagner, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, USA, 1970’s

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#140150

Surface wear commensurate with age. Earthen and mineral deposits.