Figurine of a Naked Woman Cupping Her Breasts
Unknown · Middle Elamite period, c. 1500-1100 BC
Another naked woman presses her hands beneath her breasts, but look closely and her jewellery differs from that of her neighbours. A diadem circles her head, large ear covers hide her ears, and on her chest hang two necklaces, one short with a pendant and one long with a sliding bead that gathers the strands. Bracelets stack on her wrists. She is a little over fifteen centimetres tall, moulded in terracotta with the back left plain.
The Louvre records this piece as the same type as another figurine from Susa, which shows how workshops reused a small set of moulds while varying the finish. Such figures belong to the Middle Elamite period, between about fifteen hundred and eleven hundred BC, when Susa was a major city of the Elamite kingdom and its potters mass-produced small images for daily religious life. The gesture of offering the breasts is ancient in Mesopotamia and Iran and probably speaks of fertility and nourishment. The figurine came to Paris through the division of finds from the French excavations at Susa.
Did You Know? Her long necklace is gathered by a sliding bead, a practical detail the mould maker did not skip even at this tiny scale.
Unlock the Full Guide
Read every room and listen to every work in all museums with premium.