Terracotta Figure Vessel with Coiled Arms

The Embrace of Rings

The arms are the heart of this piece. One of them is so loaded with rings that it becomes a coil of clay looping over the shoulder and down the back, the other reaches across the body and lays its hand flat on the belly.

It is a gesture of calm and of possession, the way someone might rest a hand on a full stomach or on a precious thing they carry. Since the body of the figure is also the body of the vessel, the hand seems to rest on whatever the pot once held.

The head lifts upward on its long neck, mouth open, framed by ears that fan out like leaves. From the side, a crest of round beads sweeps back from the forehead, and a small fringed ornament hangs beneath the ear.

Look at the surface and you will see small cones scattered across it like stars, and a beaded line running down the front like a seam. Every detail adds to the feeling of a figure dressed for an occasion.

A footed globular vessel rising into a long neck and an open-mouthed head with fan-shaped ears and a crest of round studs. One arm loops over the shoulder in a series of heavy coils; the other crosses the body and rests its open hand on the belly.

A twisted collar circles the neck, a beaded band runs down the front, and small conical studs are scattered over the surface.