A Mesopotamian Terracotta Female Statue, ca. early first millennium BCE

The stylized figure shown standing with wing-like arms raised and outstretched, decorative circles incised on the body, an elongated neck, and head with birdlike features.

George Dales, in his dissertation on Mesopotamian female figurines, discusses the recurrence of certain features, such as "wing-like arms, along a broad geographical east-west band from the Mediterranean to India (including North Syria, southern Anatolia, northern Iran, Turkmenistan, North Pakistan, and India) in lands that show other evidence of cultural contact." Oscar White Muscarella, "Ladders to Heaven: Art Treasures from Lands of the Bible," Toronto: McClelland and Stewart Limited (1981), pg. 189.

Dimensions:   Height: 10 1/2 inches (26.7 cm)

Condition:  Loss to the right side of the head, neck probably rejoined but otherwise complete and in good condition overall, with some losses to the right hand and face. Custom mounted. A charming and unique piece.

Provenance:  The Hauge Collection of Ancient & Iranian Art, assembled between 1962 and 1966. Foreign service brothers, Victor and Osborne Hauge, together with their wives Takako and Gratia, assembled their collection of Persian, Japanese, Chinese, and Southeast Asian works of fine and folk art while stationed overseas with the US government after WWII. In consultation with academics and dealers, the Hauges assembled over two decades of what former Freer Gallery of Art director Harold Stern described in 1957 as "without doubt one of the finest private collections in the world". Victor and Takako published Folk Traditions in Japanese Art to coincide with a traveling exhibition held from 1978 at the Cleveland Museum of Art; Japan House Gallery, New York; and Asian Art Museum, San Francisco. Much of their collection was donated to the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery at the Smithsonian Institute culminating in an exhibition and published catalog in 2000. The balance of the collection, including this object, was inherited by descent in 2016.