Standing Female Figure of Spike Type

1 of 2

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	9.3 x 2.3 cm (3 11/16 x 7/8 in.)
Harvard Museum
Department	Department of Ancient and Byzantine Art & Numismatics
Division	Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact	am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu

Context

The figure consists of a pointed featureless body, its arms extended horizontally next to two small pellet breasts on the same level. The large head features a projecting nose flanked by round eyes, a short chin, and two rounded tabs projecting sideways from the head. The pointed crown on the head displays five pronounced horizontal grooves, perhaps incised after casting. The back of the figure is featureless.
This statuette is another variant of the pointed-body Late Bronze Age Levantine votive statuette.

David G. Mitten

TechnicalDetails

Technical Observations

The patina is smooth brown with areas of thin black over thin red corrosion. The statuette is a solid cast and is remarkably well preserved. The lower portion of the body below the arms appears to have been worked by hot working, cold working, or both to form the pointed tip. The lines in the cap were made after casting probably by chasing or stamping, without removing much, if any, metal.
 
Carol Snow (submitted 2002)

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