Description:
This statuette depicts a woman, perhaps a priestess or a goddess. She is shown frontally, with her right foot placed slightly back, and leaning on a tree trunk. She is wearing a draped chiton and himation. In her right hand she is holding a dish which displays a prominent omphalos (a navel) and which is therefore usually called an omphalos cup or phiale.
The back side was mostly left unworked, as if the piece was originally conceived as a relief. The only a few details were sketched on the back: the fingers of the hand holding the phiale and the hem and folds of the clothes.
The object is evidence of the piety of the woman, as is the characteristic arrangement of the mantle, which covers the whole of the left arm and perhaps also once covered the head.
Dating:
2nd-3rd century C.E.
Size:
Height circa 28.5 cm, height including mount 32.5 cm.
Provenance:
Swiss private collection A.; estate of Dr. Armin Ackermann; previously Miss M. Meyer, Arlesheim, ca. 1965.
Condition:
Apart from the missing head there is very little damage; minor damage to the right hand side, affecting part of the rim of the phiale and a small part of the hand holding it; else only a few very minuscule spots (on average ca. 2 mm) of damage, especially on the proper right knee and in some of the folds of the clothes; remnants of what is probably some glue on a small part of the back; all as shown. Overall in excellent condition.
Price:
€ 6,500
RESERVED
Stock number:
C0847