LOT 0679

Western Asiatic Sumerian Gypsum Statue of a Male Worshipper

SECOND ARCHAIC DYNASTY, MID-3RD MILLENNIUM BC

8 1/2" (3.0 kg, 22cm).

A carved figure standing barefoot on a T-shaped base with hands clasped to his chest in an attitude of devotion, with naked upper torso and wearing a tufted wool kaunakes skirt in three tiers.

Ex Hotel Drouot, Paris, 13-14 February 2002, Lot 400; previously with Christie's, 13 December 1995, Lot 140; formerly in an important North London collection formed before 1980.

The kaunakes was a woollen kilt or shawl woven in a tufted pattern perhaps indicating overlapping petals or feathers. The effect may have been achieved by sewing tufts onto the finished garment or by weaving loops into the fabric before tailoring. It appears to have originated in Sumeria circa 2500 BC. It can be found on imagery uncovered in excavations of Bactrian sites, especially the female statuettes called "Bactrian Princesses".