Standing Female Figure of Spike Type

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Artist
Name	Unknown
Basic Info
Alternative Title	Female Figure
Period	Hittite Empire period
Created in	Ancient & Byzantine World, Asia, Anatolia
Century	2nd millennium BCE
Culture	Syro-Hittite
Dimensions	7.8 x 1.8 cm (3 1/16 x 11/16 in.)
Harvard Museum
Department	Department of Ancient and Byzantine Art & Numismatics
Division	Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact	am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu

Context

This standing female statuette with a pointed body features two stubby arms projecting forward from the elbows. The tip of the right arm does not seem to have been fully cast. There are two small pellet-shaped breasts between the shoulders. The elongated neck is marked by four ridges. The head features a prominent nose, recessed eyes with low pellet-shaped pupils, and tabs projecting from the sides of the head. The pointed top of the head whose tip is missing is marked by five horizontal ridges similar to those on the neck. The back of the statuette is flat and featureless.

David G. Mitten

TechnicalDetails

Chemical Composition

Technical Observations

The patina is dark grayish black with areas of red and green corrosion. The statuette is missing the proper right hand as well as fragments at the top and bottom. A casting flaw has also left a prominent hole in the nose.
 
The figure is a solid cast. The lower portion of the body below the arms appears to have been formed by hot working, cold working, or both to form the tip. The grooved lines in the cap and neck appear to have been done after casting. 
 
Carol Snow (submitted 2002)

Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Louise M. and George E. Bates