Ancient Near East, Sumer, ca. 2nd millennium BCE. A lovely mold-formed terracotta plaque, probably representing Astarte (also known as Ashtoreth and Ishtar in parts of Mesopotamia) - a goddess associated with sexuality, war, and fertility. She is presented with a broad chest decorated with a multi-stranded necklace while grasping one breast with her left hand. Her stylized countenance is composed of impressed almond-shaped eyes beneath slender brows, a triangular nose above full lips, and cupped ears adorned with dangling earrings, all beneath a wide head band boasting impressed stippling. Size: 3.3" W x 4.125" H (8.4 cm x 10.5 cm); 5.1" H (13 cm) on included custom stand.

Provenance: private East Coast, USA collection, ex-collection of Richard Wagner, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, USA, 1960s-1970s

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#135558

Minor nicks and stable hairline fissures to raised details and peripheries, with softening to some finer details, and encrustations across both sides, otherwise intact and very good. Light earthen deposits throughout.