Nabataean Terracotta Mother and Child Figurine

£ 1,150.00

A finely moulded Nabataean terracotta figurine in the form of a mother, cradling a child. The female figure is depicted seated, with her feet perched on a platform and her arms encircling the body of the child. Both figures are depicted in a fully frontal position, facing the viewer. The two figures share the same almond-shaped eyes, with a raised central pellet representing their pupils, raised triangular noses, parted lips, and rounded chins. Thin, curved eyebrows further frame the mother’s face. She wears a necklace and a wig, parted in the middle by a row of three circular pellets, with plaits to each side, showing a possibly Greco-Egyptian influence. The details of the figurine have been rendered stylistically with raised lines representing the folds of their drapery and indicating the outline of the body underneath. These same raised lines decorate the reverse of the figurine, with the back of the figure’s head enriched with concentric arches and its body with curving lines, parted down the centre. The figurine is hollow and slightly flattened, sitting on a flat, ovoid base. The bright orange colour of the terracotta, as seen on this example, is characteristic of Nabataean pottery and is caused by the high level of iron in the clay.

Date: Circa 2nd - 3rd Century AD
Condition: Excellent condition. Earthly encrustations to the surface and signs of wear, including minor scratches, surface pitting, and slight chipping. A chip to the top edge of the statuette above the mother's head. Two minor hairline cracks across the back of the figure.
SKU: NES-196 Categories: , Tag:

Nabatean, or Nabataean, pottery and coroplastic production, recovered since the very first organized archaeological excavations of Petra in Jordan, attest the great skills of Nabatean craftsmen. Since the 1st century BC, the Nabateans developed a specific and characteristic style in their pottery production, without any reference to the Hellenistic artistic tradition. Nabatean pottery is characterised by a bright red terracotta, painted decoration and displays a smooth and matte finishing. With the Roman conquest of the area around 150 AD, Nabatean pottery production started losing its thinness and polychrome decoration, becoming more crude and simple.

Weight 99.5 g
Dimensions L 5.6 x W 2.5 x H 12.6 cm
Region

Near East (Western Asiatic)

Pottery

Terracotta

Reference: For a similar item, Yale University Art Gallery, item 1912.462

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