Pendant with Nude Female

Object Name: 
Pendant with Nude Female

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Object Name: 
Pendant with Nude Female
Accession Number: 
55.1.64
Dimensions: 
Overall H: 7 cm, W: 1.8 cm, D: 1.7 cm
Location: 
On Display
Date: 
1500-1200 BCE
Credit Line: 
The Corning Museum of Glass
Primary Description: 
Pendant with Nude Female. Translucent deep blue glass, bubbly, entirely covered with a thick white, tan, and iridescent weathering crust; mold pressed in a one-part mold. Female figure standing on a square base, hair appears to be pulled back from forehead and drops behind ears, vertically fluted on top of head, possibly bound by a horizontal diadem around forehead, features on face somewhat obliterated, prominent eyebrows, nose and mouth, neck covered with vertical ribs suggesting a wide necklace, stylized arms support her breasts, pronounced belly indicates pregnancy, stylized legs, thighs and knees indicated but no feet; a horizontal hole is preserved near the back of the plaque at shoulder level for suspension, excess glass from the original casting is preserved below the square base.
Department: 
Provenance: 
Smith, Ray Winfield (American, 1897-1982), Source
1955-09-09
Color: 
Technique: 
Material: 
A Wonder to Behold: The Power of Craftsmanship and the Creation of Babylon’s Ishtar Gate
Venue(s)
Institute for the Study of the Ancient World 2019-11-06 through 2020-05-24
"A Wonder to Behold: Craftsmanship and the Creation of the Ishtar Gate at Babylon" will examine the skilled and ritually transformative power of craftsman in the ancient Near East through the lens of the Ishtar Gate. Built by Nebuchadnezzar II (ruled 604 -- 562 B.C.) as a monumental entry way into the capital city of Babylon, the Ishtar Gate is composed of individually molded, colorful glazed ceramic bricks. Technologies of glaze and glass were intricately linked at this time, with the materials and their craftsman consider the most magical or alchemical for their ability to transform mundane raw materials of clay and sand into luminous objects. Along with surviving pieces of the Ishtar Gate and archival materials from its excavation, the exhibition will feature inscribed, stamped, and glazed bricks, clay and glass figurines, ancient glass objects, materials in their raw forms, and examples of modern craft traditions of mudbrick and glass.
Glass from the Ancient World
Venue(s)
Corning Museum of Glass 1957-06-04 through 1957-09-15
 
Verres Antiques de la Collection R.W. Smith
Venue(s)
Musee de Mariemont 1954 through 1954
Antikes Glas aus der Sammlung Ray Winfield Smith: Kurpfalzischen Museum Heidelberg
Venue(s)
Kurpfalzischen Museum 1952-11 through 1953
 
Ancient Glass from the Collection of Ray W. Smith
Venue(s)
Fogg Art Museum 1952
Ancient and Islamic Glass: Selections from the Corning Museum of Glass (2019) illustrated, pp. 16-17;
Lasitehtaasta museoksi: Tapio Wirkkala Suomen lasimuseon suunnittelijana = From a Glassworks to a Museum: Tapio Wirkkala and the Design of the Finnish Glass Museum (2019) illustrated, p. 66 (top);
The Corning Museum of Glass (2010) illustrated, p. 65;
American and European Pressed Glass in The Corning Museum of Glass (1981) illustrated, p. 13, fig. 1; BIB# 30457
Pre-Roman and Early Roman Glass in The Corning Museum of Glass (1979) illustrated, p. 47, #1; BIB# 29547
Glass from the Ancient World: The Ray Winfield Smith Collection (1957) illustrated, pp. 30-31, #25; BIB# 27315
Antikes Glas aus der Sammlung Ray Winfield Smith (Heidelberg) (1952) illustrated, p. 6-7 (#4); BIB# 31788