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BM 134694 B 47
By kind permission of British Museum
By kind permission of British Museum
By kind permission of British Museum
By kind permission of British Museum
By kind permission of British Museum
DEPOSIT INFORMATION
| Deposit | London, The British Museum, BM 134694=1965,1011.2 |
| Notes | Purchased from Professor Robert B. Serjeant (1915-1993), collected by D.B. Doe, MBE. |
SUPPORT INFORMATION
| Support type | Artefact » Sculpture in the round » Human figure | ||||||||||||
| Material | Alabaster | ||||||||||||
| Dimensions | h. 59.50, w. 29.20, th. 23.50 | ||||||||||||
| Decoration |
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| Notes on support and decorations | This statue depicts a seated woman, carved of excellent quality, creamy white calcite-alabaster with red, purple and orange veining. She must represent a very important or wealthy woman, or goddess, depicted fully in the round with such fine attention to detail, particularly to the face and hair. The whole form is rounded, rounded shoulders, she is seated on some sort of stool but that is largely missing, soft modelling, legs carved free of the seat. She is wearing a plain full-length dress; the hands were originally outstretched and may have originally held offerings, but were broken off in antiquity. The figure is full, with broad hips, dimpled chin, round delicate modelling of the face, particularly the mouth, highly polished, kind expressive face. Two lines around the neck indicate the rings of Venus. One eye has dark stains; the other has shell inlay although the inlay for the drilled pupil is missing. She has fine eyebrows, originally inlaid, a small smile, relatively realistic ears. Her finely carved wavy hair is parted in centre and is loosely gathered into a long braid, which hangs down the small of her back. The care with which this statue was finished at the rear suggests that it was intended to have been see from all directions, and thus may have been set up as a free-standing sculpture. Feet broken off; no trace of paint; the nose has been reconstructed. |
ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE
| Modern site | Unknown |
| Ancient site | Unknown |
| Geographical area | Unknown |
| Country | Unknown |
| Link to site record |
BIBLIOGRAPHY
| Antonini 2001: 60, pls 24-25 | Antonini, 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] |
| Simpson 2002: 118, cat. 126 | Simpson, St John (ed.) 2002. Queen of Sheba. Treasures from the ancient Yemen. London: British Museum Press. [Catalogue of an exhibition held at the British Museum, London] |
| Philby 1981: 70 (right) | Philby, Harry St John B. 1981. The queen of Sheba. London: Quartet books. |