CSAI

Corpus of South Arabian Inscriptions


By kind permission of British Museum

DEPOSIT INFORMATION

DepositLondon, The British Museum, BM 132223=1957,1012.2
NotesPurchased from B.R. Sindall in 1957.

SUPPORT INFORMATION

Support typeArtefact » Sculpture in the round » Human figure
MaterialStone
Measuresh. 25, w. 9.8, th. 9.8
Decoration
Figurative subjectFurniture » Seat
Figurative subjectHuman figure
      GenderWoman
      Part of human bodyComplete figure
      Human gestureSitting, Arms stretching out
      Human clothes and attributesLong skirt, Belt
Notes on support and decorationsLimestone statuette of a slim figured female wearing a long fringed wrap around skirt, seated on a high seat with feet resting on a projecting base. The figure has carefully carved facial features; enormous lidded eyes, long eye-brows incised over brow ridge, a relatively small nose, an incised line for the mouth, and a dimple in the chin. The chin length hair, flaring out slightly on either side, is incised with horizontal and vertical lines to possibly indicated braiding, and this patterning extends around the back of the head; radiating incised lines indicated the hair on the top of the flat head. The head is supported on a thick neck. It is likely that the torso is bare; the chest and breasts are well modelled, and the figure has broad shoulders, and an incised navel. The arms seem to have been broken, but later incised lines were marked over the top to indicate the fingers. A belt or a fold in the skirt is indicated around the waist, and there are pos-sible traces of a dark pigment on the garment. The back is fully carved with the spine and the folds of the arms indicated; the waist band and skirt continue round to the back, and the feet, with incised toes, are carved free from the L-shaped base.

ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE

Origin
Modern siteUnknown
Ancient siteUnknown
Geographical areaUnknown
CountryUnknown
Archaeological contextFunerary context
Link to site record

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Antonini 2001: 60, pl. 23Antonini, Sabina 2001. La statuaria sudarabica in pietra. Repertorio iconografico sudarabico. 1. Paris: de Boccard / Rome: IsIAO. [Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-lettres; Istituto Italiano per l'Africa e l'Oriente]