A LURISTAN BRONZE GODDESS

CIRCA 9TH-7TH CENTURY B.C.

Details

A LURISTAN BRONZE GODDESS
CIRCA 9TH-7TH CENTURY B.C.
5 3⁄8 in. (13.7 cm.) high

Provenance

Sheldon and Barbara Breitbart, New York and Arizona, acquired by the mid 1980s.
The Breitbart Collection of Antiquities and Ancient Glass, Sotheby's, New York, 20 June 1990, lot 118.
with The Merrin Gallery, New York.
Private Collection, U.S., acquired from the above, 1990.
Property from a Distinguished Private Collection; Antiquities, Christie's, New York, 4 June 2015, lot 153, where acquired by the present owner.

Sale room notice

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Conditions of sale

Brought to you by

Francois de Poortere International Deputy Chairman

fdepoortere@christies.com +1 212 636 2120

Lot Essay

According to Oscar White Muscarella, archeologist and long-serving member of the Department of Near Eastern Art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the motif of a female clasping her breasts (as seen in the art across a multitude of cultures throughout the ancient Near East) is usually associated with fertility, and thus the term “fertility tube” is alternatively used to describe these objects. For a similar example, see no. 238 in Muscarella, Bronze and Iron: Ancient Near Eastern Artifacts in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

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