Female figurine

Object Details

• Description

  A terracotta figurine of a woman. The woman is nude and the pubic triangle has been accentuated by the use of incised lines. She has round modeled breasts that were formed by adding balls of clay to the main body. Her arms hang at her sides and the hands blend into the sides of the legs. The spaces between the arms and the body have been cut away. The legs are modeled together and are separated only by an incised line. The legs taper to a point and the feet are merely suggested by a slight upturn of the tapered end of the joined legs. A pierced dot indicates the navel; additional dots around the back above the buttocks suggest that she is wearing a beaded girdle. The coils of clay with pierced dots on them were applied around the neck of the figure in imitation of a heavy beaded necklace. The face is relatively flat except for the nose and appears almost bird-like. The nose was created by pinching the clay slightly and the eyes are simple incised lines with incised brow lines above. The top of the head flares out and back and is pierced with four holes. Ears are suggested; the pierced holes on either side were probably for earrings.

• Previous custodian or owner

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

• Provenance

  To 1906-1907

  Unidentified owner, Egypt, to 1906-1907 [1]

  From 1906-1907 to 1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased in Egypt from an unidentified owner in the winter of 1906-1907 [2]

  From 1920

  Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]

  Notes:

  [1] See Original Pottery List, L. 1876, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.

  [2] See note 1.

  [3] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.

• Origin

  Egypt

• Credit Line

  Gift of Charles Lang Freer

• Type

  Sculpture

• On View

  Freer Gallery 20: A Collector’s Eye: Freer in Egypt

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  BCE 1000s

• Name

  Freer, Charles Lang

• Place

  Egypt

• Topic

  Art, Second Intermediate Period (ca. 1630 - 1539 BCE), Ancient Egyptian Art, Woman

• Culture

  Egyptians

• Object Type

  Sculpture

• On View

  Yes