Figurine of a Naked Woman Supporting Her Breasts
Unknown · Middle Elamite period, c. 1400-1100 BC
Standing with her hands under her breasts, this terracotta woman wears a diadem with a raised boss at its centre, a necklace, bracelets and a baldric, a band that crosses the torso diagonally from shoulder to hip. At nearly eighteen centimetres she is one of the larger figurines of her type in the room, and she survives complete. A thin slip smoothed the surface before firing.
The figure dates to the Middle Elamite period, between the fourteenth and the twelfth century BC. The crossed baldric is a distinctive Elamite touch, worn by several of the naked women displayed here, and it may mark them as goddesses or as women dressed for a ritual rather than ordinary people. Thousands of such figurines were excavated at Susa by the French mission, and their sheer number tells us that they were cheap, popular and part of everyday devotion. This one came to the Louvre through the division of finds with Iran.
Did You Know? The little bump on her diadem may represent a jewel or rosette that would have caught the light on a real headband.
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