A BACTRIAN COMPOSITE STONE FEMALE FIGURE

BACTRIA-MARGIANA, CIRCA LATE 3RD-EARLY 2ND MILLENNIUM B.C.

Details

A BACTRIAN COMPOSITE STONE FEMALE FIGURE
BACTRIA-MARGIANA, CIRCA LATE 3RD-EARLY 2ND MILLENNIUM B.C.
The voluminous body formed of chlorite, the crinoline-like form of the skirt overlaid with layered kaunakes, flaring at the back toward the hem, the upper body patterned with hatching and chevron, tufts along the left shoulder, a flat shelf at the waist for the now-missing, separately-made and likely contrasting stone forearms, the neckline of her garment square at the front, rounded at the sides and V-shaped at the back, with a deep recess at the center into which the white limestone head is set, with a broad oval face, prominent nose, full smiling lips, sfumato eyes and large ears, the top of the head flat, the separately-made hair of chlorite, with wavy incision along the crown of the head, a zigzag fringe along the forehead, surmounted by a rounded turban, its spiral-twisting indicated by grooves and striations
7¼ in. (18.4 cm.) high

Provenance

Private Collection, Japan, acquired in the 1960s.

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G. Max Bernheimer

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Lot Essay

According to Muscarella (p. 368 in Aruz, Benzel and Evans, Art of the First Cities, The Third Millennium B.C. from the Mediterranean to the Indus), "attempts have been made to interpret these figures as deities or prominent humans, but insufficient information exists to permit a satisfactory conclusion. There is no doubt, however, that they are charged beings, physically massive but projecting a calm power and authority."
For a closely related example from the Foroughi collection, now in the Louvre, see fig. 20, p. 176 and pl. 110 in Ligabue and Salvatori, eds., Bactria, an Ancient Oasis Civilization from the Sands of Afghanistan.

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