COLLECTION NAME:
The AMICA Library
Record
AMICA ID:
DMA_.1974.81.FA
AMICA Library Year:
2003
Object Type:
Sculpture
Creator Nationality:
Syria
Creator Name-CRT:
Syria
Title:
Fertility Goddess
View:
Full View
Creation Date:
late 2nd Millennium BC
Creation Start Date:
0
Creation End Date:
0
Materials and Techniques:
Ceramic
Dimensions:
Overall: 6 x 2 1/16 x 1 3/16 in. (15.24 x 5.24 x 3.02 cm.)
AMICA Contributor:
Dallas Museum of Art
Owner Location:
Dallas, Texas, USA
ID Number:
1974.81.FA
Credit Line:
Dallas Museum of Art, Foundation for the Arts Collection, gift of Mr. and Mrs. James H. Clark
Context:
This kind of ceramic female figurine was quite common in Syria during the Bronze Age. The statuettes consist of standing frontal female figures that are nude, though usually wearing ornaments and headdresses. Features like ears, eyes, and navels may be indicated by incised circles. The high headdresses are also pierced with similar circles. The Dallas Museum of Art example has a pinched nose, a double-banded necklace, indications of a hip band or pelvic area, abbreviated triangular arms, legs separated by a groove, and slightly modeled toes. These common figurines were possibly votive offerings or amulets to a mother-goddess, and their form may have been influenced by cult statues in a temple. Many other examples indicate the nurturing females breasts more than the DMA piece does. The connections in form, and probably in meaning, between this little statuette and the DMA's two Cycladic figurines are apparent in the frontal pose and the strongly stylized forms of the female body."Gods, Men, and Heroes," page 30
Related Image Identifier Link:
DMA_.1974_81_FA.tif
