Babylonian clay plaque with erotic scene
Price: on request
Sold
Object number
AR3240
| Object: |
Babylonian clay plaque with erotic scene
|
| Material: |
Fired clay.
|
| Period: |
Around 1800 BC. Old Babylonian Empire. |
| Description: |
Rectangular clay plaque with smooth backside and a scene in relief on the frontside. It shows a standing man making love with a woman standing in front of him. The woman bends over and drinks through a long straw from a vessel on the floor.
|
| Background: |
Such clay plaques were mass-produced in southern Mesopotamia from the 2nd millennium BC. To do this, the clay was pressed into reusable molds and afterwards fired. The inexpensive production made the objects affordable for a wide audience. Presumably, these panels served religious purposes, because finds come mainly from temples and from households, where the plaques decorated the house altar. The exact interpretation of the scene on the piece offered here is puzzling. It is a plausible assumption that the woman drinks beer from the vessel. What role the erotic scene played in the beliefs of the Old Babylonian Empire is unclear.
|
| Dimensions: |
7.2cm width, 9.3cm height, 1.2cm depth.
|
| Condition: |
Perfect condition. The damages to the rim and the weak impression on the right side are original defects from the ancient production.
|
| Provenance: |
Acquired by us in 2021 on the British art market. Previously in British private ownership. Inherited in 2010 from the London collection of Werner Forman. Purchased by Mr Forman at Christie's London auction 30 April 1974, lot 233.
|
| References: |
Cf. British Museum, museum no. 116731. Cf. R. Opificius, Das altbabylonische Terrakottarelief (1961), p. 167, cat. 612, pl. 20. |
| Authenticity: |
We unconditionally guarantee the authenticity of every artefact, all items are subject to our lifetime return policy on authenticity.
|