Carlotta - the museum database

BEK 1959.07 :: figurine

Object description

The figurine represents a standing woman of rigid geometrical shape. The body is flat and rhomboid with wide hips. A circle with a hole in the middle marks the sexual organ. An incised line both at the front and back of the statuette separates the legs. A widening at the end of the legs indicates the feet. The outstretched arms look like taps and have no hands. The most prominent feature is the head on a long cylindrical neck with necklace. The profile shows a bird-like structure with a markedly protruding nose and – like a third eye – a piercing in the clay above it. The eyes are big plastic circles with holes, a mouth is not indicated. Behind this face, which has no proper front, the hair stands like a stiff shield with two holes in the center. The big ears are pierced, too. Traces of white paint are especially abundant at the front of the very well preserved figurine. There are several statuettes of this type, supposed to represent the Great Goddess, which are found in different places in Syria and dated to the second millennium BC

Beate George.

This kind of figurines is well known at sites of the Middle Bronze Age on the Euphrates Valley in Syria, ex. Tell Mumbaqa.

Data elements
References (1)

Inventory number

BEK 1959.07

Serie nummer

1040

Object

figurine

Country - Findspot

Syria : Asia

Material

Clay. Baked

Exhibitions

Donation of the Hungarian-American professor Georg von Békésy (1899-1972). He was leader of the research-department at the Hungarian Telephone Company until he left Hungary in 1946. After spending a period at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm (1946-1947), professor at Harvard University (1947-1966), and after that he served at the University of Hawaii. In 1961, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in Stockholm. His good relations to Sweden resulted in several donations received by Swedish Museums in 1972. The numbers connected with the objects in these donations are still those given by von Békésy himself.

Loan out - Planned

2021.0005, Nationalmuseum, Ungern

Acquisition

The Georg von Békésy Collection.

Acquisition, Swedish

Georg von Békésy samling

Description

Beate George.

This kind of figurines is well known at sites of the Middle Bronze Age on the Euphrates Valley in Syria, ex. Tell Mumbaqa.

Name - Acquired from

Békésy, Georg von

Description: <space><space><space><space>During his lifetime, Bekesy collected a large number of
works of art and rare books. Many were lost in World War I,
others in World War II, and some were destroyed or damaged
as a result of a fire in Memorial Hall at Harvard. In spite of all
this, the collection gradually grew larger and more varied. But
the collection was almost as private as was Bekesy's personal
life—few persons were ever privileged to see more than a mere
fragment of it. Now, however, it is in the public domain. In his
last will and testament, Bekesy chose to honor the Nobel
Foundation, which had earlier bestowed such great honor upon
him, with a gift of that which was closest and dearest to him—
the art objects that he had collected over the years and that had
been both a source of inspiration in his work and a source of
solace for a lonely man in times of need of comfort. The Georg
von Bekesy Collection of Art was placed on public exhibition
for the first time, by the Nobel Foundation, on December 9,
1974. His collection of books is now in the Library of the
University of Hawaii. (Ratliff, Floyd, 1976, Georg von Békésy 1899—1972, A Biographical Memoir)
Source - http: collections.smvk.se, collections.smvk.se, libris.kb.se
Source, Wikip. - is desc. by: sv.wikipedia.org

Name - Owner

Nobelstiftelsen

Source - http: collections.smvk.se, collections.smvk.se
Source, Viaf - same as: viaf.org

Comments

Fotograferas om!

The figurine has a stand which is stored on the shelf, see below.

; Urval Syriska berättelser

Cf Publications

H. Bossert, Altsyrien, Tübingen 1951, nos. 628-630; The Brooklyn Museum, The Pomerance Collection of Ancient Art, New York 1996, no. 12.

Publications

Virgin, Jan, ed. 1974 The Georg von Békésy Collection. Malmö

Height / Höjd

18,7 cm

Width / Bredd

6,5 cm

Thickness / Tjocklek

3,5 cm

Dimensions

H. 18.7 cm.

Loan in - Current

in-1974.0001, Medelhavsmuseet

Original register

WestAsia

Here you can leave a comment. You have to supply an e-mail, an alias and you have to accept the agreements.

Important to know about the information in the online collection database

Users of the database are warned that some records may include language or terminology dating from the 19th and 20th centuries which depicted people in ways that are obsolete and/or offensive. We are conscious that the inclusion of such terminology is problematic. As an institution, we have chosen to include this historic information in our database because it is part of the documentation for the object, photograph, or archival item. Where known, objects associated with, or photographs depicting, ritual or ceremonial activity have been hidden in the publicly accessible database as there may be restrictions relating to the age, gender, initiation and ceremonial status or clan of the person who may see them. The database may also include the names of deceased persons, which could cause sadness or distress, particularly to relatives of these people.

Click here for more information.

BEK 1959.07 :: figurine

Leave a comment

Important to know about the information in the online collection database