Three Syro-Hittite Pottery Figure Fragments

拍品描述

Near East, Anatolia and Northern Levant, Syro-Hittite culture, ca. 2000–1500 BCE. A trio of hand-modeled terracotta figures reduced to their most abstract essentials, all of diminutive scale. The largest preserves a bust whose surviving arm bends sharply at the elbow to rest against the chest, the opposite limb now lost; applied pellets form the wide staring eyes, a pinched ridge the beaked nose, and incised bands describe a necklace and crossed garment straps. The two accompanying heads repeat the formula, one in buff clay with enormous perforated eyes beneath a browline ridge, the other in red-brown clay with a smaller, more compressed face. Such figures, worked quickly from pinched and applied clay, were likely votive or apotropaic, deposited in domestic shrines or graves as tokens of fertility and protection rather than as portraits of any named deity. Size of largest: 2.28" H x 1.4" W x 0.95" D (5.8 cm H x 3.6 cm W x 2.4 cm D). "Syro-Hittite" is a collector's umbrella for the small clay idols produced across Anatolia, northern Syria, and the upper Levant during the second millennium BCE, a zone where Hittite, Hurrian, and Amorite populations shared a visual shorthand for the human figure. The type owes nothing to naturalism: the body is a tapering column, the head a flattened disc or beak, and identity resides almost entirely in the applied eyes, which are exaggerated to the point of dominating the face. That emphasis on the gaze is deliberate and widespread in Near Eastern votive art, from the alabaster worshippers of Tell Asmar onward, where the wide open eye signals perpetual attention before the divine. Gendered examples typically distinguish females by applied breasts and cradled infants and males by weapons or headgear, while the crossed bands seen across the chest of the larger figure here recur on both. SHIPPING: We coordinate worldwide shipping in-house through specialist international forwarders experienced with fine art and antiquities customs manifests. International buyers must confirm, prior to bidding, that their country's customs authority will accept the item. All duties, taxes, clearance fees, and any costs arising from customs delays, seizures, re-export, returns, or loss in transit are the buyer's sole responsibility. Artemis assumes no liability for items refused entry, detained, or lost after export. We cannot ship ancient items to their country of origin (Egyptian to Egypt, Greek to Greece, etc.).For those not using LiveAuctioneers' Live Ship program, Artemis Fine Arts offers expert in-house packing and worldwide shipping. With over 20 years of experience, our team provides careful, reliable, and affordable service. For a quick quote on this lot, please contact support@artemisfinearts.com prior to the auction, or call 720-890-7700. PAYMENT EXCEPTION: For clients not previously established with Artemis, payment for all gold, precious metal, and gemstone lots must be made by bank wire transfer or certified bank check/money order, without exception. Item #204549

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