Goddess Holding Her Breasts

Place of OriginIran, likely from Luristan

Date750-650 BCE

DimensionsH: 5 13/16 in. (14.8 cm); W: 1 13/16 in. (4.6 cm)

MediumBronze

ClassificationSculpture

Credit LineGift of Thomas T. Solley

Object number

1991.48

Not on View

DescriptionCast in bronze, this stylized female figure has a slender, columnar form with a narrow waist and prominent buttocks. Her legs are together with slightly bent knees, and her arms curve upward to grasp her breasts. Bird heads emerge from each shoulder, their bodies extending down her upper arms. She wears a flanged belt, broad collar, and diadem. Her face features convex eyes, a prominent nose, arched brows, and a faint smile.

Label TextLuristan art encompasses intricately cast bronze objects—such as horse gear, weapons, and ritual finials—produced in western Iran's Zagros Mountains between 1000 and 650 BCE. Characterized by stylized animal motifs and openwork designs, these artifacts reflect the material culture of nomadic or transhumant societies in Iran. Most known examples surfaced through antiquities markets, often lacking archaeological context.Comparative ReferencesSee also Ghirshman, R., The Arts of Ancient Iran, New York, 1964, p. 47, fig. 56.

cf. Moorey, P.R.S., Catalogue of the Ancient Persian Bronzes in teh Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, 1971, p. 51, figs. 265, 266.

cf. Pope, A.U. A Survey of Persian Art London, 1938, vol. I, p. 264, and vol. IV, pl. 46E.