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Foundation Figure

CultureMesopotamian
Dateca. 2090 B.C.E.
MediumBronze
DimensionsOverall: 8 1/2 × 3 1/2 inches (21.59 × 8.89 cm)
Credit LinePurchase: William Rockhill Nelson Trust
Object number30-1/51
On View
On view
Gallery Location
  • 103
Collections
DescriptionCrouching statuette of king with hand and high headdress, holding long object, fine blue and red patina.Gallery Label
This figure was set onto mud bricks in the foundation of a temple. Its placement was meant to magically protect the building. The bull horns on figure's cap indicates that a god is portrayed: the same device reappears more than a thousand years later on the large relief to your left.
Provenance

Excavated at Tello (ancient Girsu) by the Louvre Museum, 1930;

Acquired from the Louvre excavation by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1930.

Published References

Oscar White Muscarella, “312 a, b Foundation Pegs Naming Gudea,” in Art of the First Cities: The Third Millennium B.C. from the Mediterranean to the Indus, ed. Joan Aruz, exh. cat. (New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2003), 440n2.

Information about a particular artwork or image, including provenance information, is based upon historic information and may not be currently accurate or complete. Research on artwork and images is an ongoing process, and the information about a particular artwork or image may not reflect the most current information available to the Museum. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about a particular artwork or image, please e-mail provenance@nelson-atkins.org.


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