Figurine Fragment

CBS Register: Nude woman, clay statuette. suckling a baby. Greek style.

PBS XVI: Nude woman suckling a child. The young figure in half relief has a charming natural grace almost Greek. It is a little masterpiece of the classical period of Gudea, BC2400. The type is exquisitely delicate but purely oriental, full and round. It reproduces on a diminutive scale the perfection of the larger diorite statues. The soft and refined treatment of the body is a decided departure from the crude primitive hieratic style. It spells new inspiration and new ideals. The legs are no longer rigid, but one is thrust a little forward. The head leans on one side, and adds life and motion to the figure. The modelling of the body below the waist is especially true to nature, and superior to anything produced so far, even in Egypt. The wavy hair falls behind the ears over the shoulders in curls and ringlets. A scarf ties it coronet-like. The large almond-shaped eyes, the arched eyebrows meeting above the nose and bordered by an incised line, the slightly curved nose, pouting lips and protruding chin, in a soft rounded face, are in the best tradition of the Sumerian art. [Legrain goes on]