Brooklyn Museum: Egyptian, Classical, and Ancient Middle Eastern Art: Female Figure

12:23 06/16/2009

Holy crow! that's the statue that was seen in Sunday's 1st Episode of the HBO show TrueBlood!!

posted by Marlene F. Emmett

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Female Figure

Representations of female figures with highly abstracted forms occur throughout most of the Predynastic Period. On statuettes of this period, the legs are usually not articulated and the faces are beaklike. This rare undamaged example, one of the oldest works in the Brooklyn Museum, was found in a burial excavated by the Museum's first archaeological expedition in Egypt. The symbolism, function, and identity of the figure are not certain. However, similar female figures painted on Predynastic vessels appear to be goddesses, because they are always larger than the male "priests" shown with them.

Medium: Terracotta, painted
Reportedly From: Ma'mariya, Egypt
Dates: ca. 3500-3400 B.C.E.
Period: Predynastic Period, Naqada IIa Period
Dimensions: 11 1/2 x 5 1/2 x 2 1/4 in. (29.2 x 14 x 5.7 cm)
Collections: Egyptian, Classical, and Ancient Middle Eastern Art
Museum Location: This item is on view in Egypt Reborn: Art for Eternity, Egyptian Orientation Gallery, 3rd Floor
Accession Number: 07.447.505
Credit Line: Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
Image: Overall, 07.447.505_SL1.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph

Collections: Egyptian, Classical, and Ancient Middle Eastern Art: Female Figure