Description:

Central Asia, Indus Valley, Mehrgarh period, ca. 3500 to 2800 BCE. A lovely ensemble of three Indus Valley pottery fertility idols, with one fragmentary and two complete figures. Both figures are depicted with deep-set round eyes, bird-like faces and veiled headdresses over lobed coiffures, and large pectorals drooped above slender bodies and sinuous limbs. The solitary fragment displays similar facial and head characteristics as the larger figures without the arms and lower half of the body. Size of largest: 4.375" H (11.1 cm).

Figurines of women are perhaps the most plentiful of the figurines in the Indus Valley. The reason for this is unknown, but some researchers have proposed that women were particularly revered in that society, perhaps relating to their roles as mothers. Studies of burial sites at Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa have shown that a man was often buried with his wife’s family. The female figurines are easily distinguished by a curving, pear-shaped body with large protruding breasts. The effect of these female figurines is two-fold: it emphasizes the beauty, and sexual nature of the female; but at the same time, cherishes the nurturing, motherly nature of the female. The figurines of the women tend to also be heavily ornamented.

Provenance: private San Diego County, California, USA collection

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#101237

  • Condition: Partial figure is a fragment of a larger statuette. All items have age-commensurate surface wear, fading to some details, small chips to limbs and pectorals, otherwise very good. Nice earthen and mineral deposits throughout.

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April 5, 2018 7:00 AM MDT
Louisville, CO, US

Artemis Fine Arts

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