Votive Statuette of Man (Fake)
Date1950s?
MediumStone
Dimensions23.5 x 10.2 x 5.6 cm (9 1/4 x 4 x 2 3/16 in.)
Credit LineGift of Drs. John and Bessie Sawhill
Object number76.1.219
On View
Not on viewCollections
Label TextThis statuette was donated to the Madison Art Collection as a Sumerian original in 1976, but it is almost definitely a fake. While the Sumerians did sculpt statuettes of male worshippers, there are a number of details here that do not match existing Mesopotamian examples. The position of the hands is incorrect: in real examples, the hands are not positioned on the stomach, but held at sternum-height (i.e. the hands are above the elbows). Moreover, they are normally clasped, and not just positioned one above the other. This ruched skirt is strange and was probably meant to evoke the feathered skirts found in real examples. The face is not right either, deviating in a number of ways from ancient examples. Many Sumerian statuettes now have deeply carved eyes and eyebrows, but these were meant to be inlaid with shells, limestone and other materials. Lastly, the presence of the cuneiform band, the nonsensical text (possibly badly copied from real inscriptions), the proportion of the shoulders, the manner in which the beard is sculpted and the general flatness of the statuette demonstrates that it is a forgery.
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