**Originally Listed At $8000**
Iran, Caspian Sea region, late 2nd to early 1st millennium BCE. A large and extremely rare carved greenstone steatopygous figure. Similar in style to figures from this region of southwestern Iran, but more commonly found in terracotta. Large hips indicate this was most definitely a type of fertility idol. In addition to her wide hips, she has a thin waist with "outie" naval, hands crossed at her belly, small rounded breasts and facial features that evoke a cross between human, feline and avian. Her body is enhanced with small circular incised areas affecting arms and legs on the front and back, shoulders and neck on the reverse. Most interestingly, her headdress is deliberately cut with a vertical slit to allow for the placement of an additional ornamentation. Two small holes indicate this object would have been secured with some form of string or pins further showing this item held a very important place in a shrine or personal collection. Size: 4.25" W x 12.5" H (10.8 cm x 31.8 cm)
Similar examples can be seen at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's website, accession number: 64.130, or published in "Idols, The Beginning of Abstract Forms," Ariadne Galleries, plate 120.
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Provenance: private Greenwood Village, Colorado, USA collection, via inheritance; Leota Furlong Agett Persian Pottery collection, acquired in Tehran, Iran in the early 1960s
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#175190
Condition
Surface with liberal scratches and areas of surface deposits, old glue to left heel and small section of right, probably an indication it was once glued to a platform - in modern times.