About the Artwork
The South Arabian kingdoms developed a unique school of funerary sculpture based on formal, geometric principles and influenced by the Greco-Roman world and a local cult of ancestor worship. The large eyes of this woman were once inlaid with dark limestone or blue lapis lazuli, and the roughly carved hair was covered by a plaster wig. As a funerary portrait, it might have adorned a burial chamber or the niche of a temple sanctuary as a votive offering.
Female Head from a Funerary Monument
between 100 BCE and 100 CE
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Arabian
South arabian
Alabaster
Overall: 11 3/8 × 5 1/4 × 5 3/4 inches (28.9 × 13.3 × 14.6 cm)
Sculpture
Ancient Near Eastern Art
Founders Society Purchase, Robert H. Tannahill Foundation Fund, and funds from the Antiquaries
1992.210
Public Domain
Markings
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Provenance
Reportedly from Cemetary of Timna, Kingdom of Qataban. (Hadji Baba Ancient Art, London, England)
1992-present, purchase by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)
For more information on provenance and its important function in the museum, please visit:
Provenance pageExhibition History
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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.
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Suggest FeedbackPublished References
SOTHEBY'S ANTIQUITIES AND ISLAMIC ART. Sales cat., June 20, 1990 no. 109, (ill.) Andre Emmerich gallery, N.Y. 1960, Collection Major M.D. Van Lessen, London. [Reportedly from Haid bin'Aqil, necropolis of Timna.]
Henshaw, Julia P., ed. A Visitors Guide: The Detroit Institute of Arts. Detroit, 1995, p. 100 (ill.).
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Credit Line for Reproduction
South Arabian, Arabian, Female Head from a Funerary Monument, between 100 BCE and 100 CE, alabaster. Detroit Institute of Arts, Founders Society Purchase, Robert H. Tannahill Foundation Fund, and funds from the Antiquaries, 1992.210.
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We regularly update our object record as new research and findings emerge, and we welcome your feedback for correction or improvement.
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