Ancient Sculptures and Statues

A range of ancient sculptures depicting deities and rulers from various cultures, including bronze, ivory, and limestone works from Egypt, Italy, and Syria.

Italy, Campania, Pompeii, Statuette representing the goddess Lakshmi, ivory,

Stele with Maitreya and Attendants, 500. China, Northern Wei dynasty (386-534). Gray limestone; overall: 94.6 x 54.6 cm (37 1/4 x 21 1/2 in.).

Ceramic figurine of a seated woman. Nayarit, Mexico. 3rd century BC-3rd century AD. British Museum. Londres. GBR.

Female Guardian (Rakshashi). Indonesia, Eastern Java, 14th century. Sculpture. Stone

Statue of a Guardian Lion. From either Cambodia or Thailand. Circa 11th-early 12th century. Khmer style of the Baphuon.

Antefix (). Unknown

Biche of Balazote. Iberian Culture. Androcephalous bull. End of the 6th century, early 5th century BC. Limestone. From Balazote (Albacete province, Castile-La Mancha, Spain). National Archaeological Museum. Madrid. Spain.

Chinese living room, Asian art work, south wall. "Merchant with a bag of flour. Ivory carved. XIXth century. Paris, house of Victor Hugo. 77437-4 Arts Decoratives, Chinese cabinet, Chinesery, Flour, Oriental Influence, Ivory, Ivory Sculpt, Merchant, Object of Art, Orientalism, Character, Porter, Sac, Chinese Salon, Statuette, 19th XIX 19th 19th 19th 19

Guanyin (Avalokiteshvara) Holding Lotus-Form Cup. China. Date: 1301-1400. Dimensions: 25.5 × 19 × 14.2 cm (10 × 7 1/2 × 5 5/8 in.). Gilt copper alloy. Origin: China. Museum: The Chicago Art Institute, Chicago, USA.

Antefix with a Female Head. Unknown

Marble sphinx on a cavetto capital ca. 580-575 B.C. Greek, Attic Inscribed on the plinth, I am the monument of ...linosThis sphinx and capital once crowned the tall grave shaft of a youth or man named Philinos or Thalinos. They belong to the earliest type of grave stele produced in Attica during the sixth century B.C. Stylistically, the sphinx is related to such early statues as the kouros (youth) displayed in the gallery to your left. It has the same four-sided structure with grooved indications of anatomical forms and large, flat, stylized features. In the early Archaic period, Greek sculptors learned much from the Egyptians about carving large-scale stone monuments. The simple concave form of this capital imitates the cavetto molding often found in Egyptian architecture.. Marble sphinx on a cavetto capital. Greek, Attic. ca. 580-575 B.C.. Marble. Archaic. Stone Sculpture

Openwork furniture plaque with a rearing goat ca. 8th century B.C. Assyrian In this fragmentary, openwork plaque, a rearing goat balances its forelegs on the intertwining tendrils of a stylized plant, nibbling on the leaves at the top. This piece was found in a large storeroom at Fort Shalmaneser, a royal building at Nimrud that was probably used to store booty and tribute collected by the Assyrians while on military campaign. A rectangular tenon preserved below the lower edge suggests that it may have been fitted into a frame, likely as part of a piece of furniture. The goats large eye, which bears traces of blue paste into which a colored glass or semiprecious stone inlay would have been set, is emphasized by incisions along the brow, as are its snout, ears, beard, mane, and ribs. The preserved fragment of vegetation emerging from behind the goats lower back suggests that the stylized plant depicted between its legs continued upwards and framed the goat in a vegetal landscape. Whil

Terracotta head of a woman wearing a high headdress. Culture: Greek, South Italian, Tarentine. Dimensions: H.: 6 7/8 x 6 5/8 in. (17.5 x 16.8 cm). Date: late 5th century B.C..Wearing a stephane. Museum: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA.

Human Head. Unknown

The Benin Empire (1440-1897) was a pre-colonial African state in what is now modern Nigeria. It is not to be confused with the modern-day country called Benin (and formerly called Dahomey).

Head of an Adorant 201 CE-500 CE Gandhara. Stucco .

Bronze statuette of a satyr and maenad. Culture: Etruscan. Dimensions: H. 3 15/16 in. (10 cm). Date: ca. 510-480 B.C.This bronze depicts a satyr abducting a maenad, one of the Archaic period's favorite subjects. Both figures are modeled with a great deal of attention to details, including facial features, hair, and drapery. The ultimate source of inspiration for the maenad is the series of Greek sculpted korai set up as votive offerings in many Greek sanctuaries. Museum: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA.

Limestone grave marker. Culture: Cypriot. Dimensions: Overall: 57 x 27 3/4in. (144.8 x 70.5cm). Date: 4th century B.C..The influence of Greek grave monuments can be seen in this relief of a seated woman with her right hand raised to lift her himation (cloak) over her head, as though preparing for departure. Greek artists, however, rarely showed such figures in a frontal position. Museum: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA.

Lampka dekorowana przedstawieniem gladiatora (tzw. Samnita). warsztat rzymski, workshop

Plaque: Warrior and Attendants. Culture: Edo peoples. Dimensions: H. 18 3/4 in. (47.6 cm). Date: 16th-17th century.During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, a remarkable series of works were created to adorn the exterior of the royal palace in Benin City. A seventeenth-century Dutch visitor to the court of Benin, Olfert Dapper, described the sprawling palace complex--with its many large courtyards and galleries--as containing wooden pillars covered from top to bottom with rectangular cast brass plaques. These plaques are understood to have autonomous meaning and to tell complex narratives in relationship to one another. At some point the plaques were removed from the palace facade, as they were no longer there when the British arrived in the region. One scholar has surmised that they "were kept like a card index up to the time of the Punitive Expedition, and referred to when there was a dispute about courtly etiquette."The authors of such works were far more concerned with the

Gandhāra is noted for the distinctive Gandhāra style of Buddhist art, which developed out of a merger of Greek, Syrian, Persian, and Indian artistic influence. This development began during the Parthian Period (50 BCE - 75 CE). Gandhāran style flourished and achieved its peak during the Kushan period, from the 1st to the 5th century. It declined and suffered destruction after invasion of the White Huns in the 5th century. Stucco as well as stone was widely used by sculptors in Gandhara for the decoration of monastic and cult buildings. Stucco provided the artist with a medium of great plasticity, enabling a high degree of expresivness to be given to the sculpture. Sculpting in stucco was popular wherever Buddhism spread from Gandhara - India, Afghanistan, Central Asia and China.

Mexico, Nuevo Leon, Monterrey. Museum of Mexican History. Chicomecóatl, Mexica (1325-1521 AD), carved stone.

Terracotta protome of a goddess. Culture: Greek, Rhodian. Dimensions: H. 11 7/8 in. (30.2 cm). Date: early 5th century B.C..This large, beautiful protome consists of a veiled head and unarticulated expanse of neck and throat. The face is modeled in late Archaic style with sharply cut curls, narrow eyes, and closed lips raised at the corners in a smile. It is not possible to know which goddess is represented. Such masks were dedicated at sanctuaries and also placed in tombs. They have holes at the top to permit them to be hung up. Museum: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA.

Ritual Axe carved in alabaster and hematite; Mayan, Vera Cruz, Mexico. Gulf of Mexico 600-900 AD. Stone

MITHRAS TAUROKTONOS - ESCULTURA ROMANA - MITOLOGIA ORIENTAL - RELIGION ROMANA - LUCHA ENTRE BIEN Y MAL - SIGLO II - 93x96x35 cm. Location: MUSEO ARQUEOLOGICO-COLECCION. CORDOBA. SPAIN.

FIGURA DE BARRO COCIDO-IBERICO. Location: MUSEO ARQUEOLOGICO-COLECCION. MURCIA. SPAIN.

Romanesque Capital with AnimalOrnament. Artist: Unknown

Kannon, 1000s or c. 1800-1868. Japan, Heian period (794-1185) or Edo period (1615-1868). Wood with traces of lacquer and gilding; overall: 27.5 cm (10 13/16 in.).

Buddha Sheltered by the Serpent King Muchalinda. Nepal; Kathmandu Valley. Date: 1001-1200. Dimensions: 44.2 x 33.5 x 14.5 cm (17 3/8 x 13 3/16 x 5 11/16 in.). Schist. Origin: Kathmandu Valley. Museum: The Chicago Art Institute, Chicago, USA.

Terracotta antefix (roof tile) with head of a maenad late 4th century B.C. Etruscan, Cerveteri On temple roofs, maenad antefixes often alternate with satyr-head antefixes. Here, the maenad wears an elaborate diadem and very large grape-cluster earrings, a type of jewelry especially popular in the fifth and fourth centuries B.C.. Terracotta antefix (roof tile) with head of a maenad 246654

Głowa króla - fragment figurki sfinksa. unknown, author

Lead figure of a woman. Culture: Greek, Laconian. Dimensions: Height: 2 1/16 in. (5.2 cm). Date: late 7th-6th century B.C..Small flat votive figurines of cast lead have been found in great quantities at the ancient sanctuaries of Laconia; over one hundred thousand, dating from the seventh century B.C. to the Classical period, were dedicated to the goddess Artemis Orthia in Sparta. Museum: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA.

Aztec volcanic rock statue of Chicomecoatl the Goddess of maize and groundwater. Dated 14th Century

The Hindu Goddess Parvati. India, Tamil Nadu, 11th century. Sculpture. Copper alloy

Messopotamian male figure 3rd -2nd Millenium BC

Kadzielnica in the shape of a demon; XVIII-XIX century (1701-00-00-1900-00-00);

Head of aWoman

Vessel in form of horned quadruped ca. 700-550 B.C. Iran This vessel takes the shape of a horned animal, probably a bull. It has four cylindrical legs and a similar neck, with a conical snout and horns. It also has small conical ears and large, flat eyes with raised pupils. A tubular handle connects its shoulders to its hindquarters, and there is a round pouring hole in its chest.This vessel was excavated at Chekka Sabz (also spelled Chigha Sabz, meaning green mound’) in the Pish-i Kuh (before the mountain’) region of Luristan in western Iran. It was found in a buried cache of objects which included two Neo-Elamite cylinder seals, two vessels in the form of human figures, and at least three other bull-shaped vessels. The seals date to the 8th-6th centuries B.C., and the pottery found with them, including this vessel, likely date to the same period. Although probably a small village in the Bronze Age, by the Iron Age Chekka Sabz had been reduced to a campsite, perhaps used by pastoral

Ancient Horse head, archeological museum, Gela, Sicily, Italy

Head of the Buddha, anonymous, 300 - 399 Fragment (head) of the Buddha Gandhara slate (rock) Fragment (head) of the Buddha Gandhara slate (rock)

Saint Margaret of Antioch ca. 1475 French The legend of Saint Margaret, the Early Christian martyr also known as Marina, details the many painful ordeals she endured before her eventual death during the reign of Emperor Diocletian (r. 284-305). Having been swallowed by the devil in the guise of a dragon, the saint burst unharmed from its body after making the sign of the cross.Dating from about 1475, this work is an outstanding example of the Languedoc style of the late fifteenth century, which was centered in medieval Toulouse. This work is remarkable for the contrast of the idealism and delicacy of the figure set against the scaly and coarse textures of the lizard-turned-dragon at the base of the composition.. Saint Margaret of Antioch. French. ca. 1475. Alabaster, with traces of gilding. Made in Toulouse ()

Terracota antefix tarantini that represents the head of a Gorgon. Late VI century early V century B.C. Museum of Fine Arts. Budapest. Hungary.

Fragment of a terracotta head. Culture: Greek, Cretan. Dimensions: 4 1/4 in x 2 1/2 in. (10.8 cm x 6.3 in.). Date: 7th century B.C..The high polos makes it likely that the figure is a woman. Museum: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA.

Head of a Male Figure 6th century India. Head of a Male Figure. India. 6th century. Terracotta. Gupta period. Sculpture

Figura wotywna młodzieńca trzymającego ptaka. unknown, author

Ambika, Mother Goddess Indian Art Relief

Equestrian With Shield. Egypt, Greco-Roman Period (332BCE - 337 CE). Sculpture. Limestone

Bodhisattva Samantabhadra (Puxian) 12th-14th century China. Bodhisattva Samantabhadra (Puxian). China. 12th-14th century. Mammoth ivory. Southern Song (1127-1279)-Yuan (1271-1368) dynasty. Sculpture

Head of a Female Deity ca. 3rd-4th century Pakistan (ancient region of Gandhara). Head of a Female Deity 38349

Pre-Columbian Art. Inca. Chavin culture. Anthropomorphic ceramic. San Marcos Museum. Peru.

Shiva as the Lord of Dance. India, Madhya Pradesh, circa 800. Sculpture. Red sandstone

Vase fragment. Culture: Roman, Gaul. Dimensions: 2 3/16 × 1 3/8 × 7/16 in. (5.6 × 3.6 × 1.1 cm).Nude male striding to right. Museum: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA.

Guardian Griffin, 1150-1175. Northern Italy, Emilia, 12th century. Pink limestone (called "Verona Marble"); overall: 75.9 x 50.2 x 120.7 cm (29 7/8 x 19 3/4 x 47 1/2 in.).

Seated Woman, c. 1900 - 1944. Aristide Maillol (French, 1861-1944). Terracotta; diameter: 5.6 cm (2 3/16 in.); overall: 21.6 x 20.4 cm (8 1/2 x 8 1/16 in.).

Terracotta rhyton (vase for libations or drinking). Culture: Greek, South Italian, Apulian. Dimensions: H. 6 1/8 in. (15.6 cm). Date: ca. 350-300 B.C..Crocodile attacking a black youthRhyta in the form of a black youth and a crocodile are known from the workshop of the Athenian potter Sotades, and examples have been found in Italy. Such pieces inspired Apulian and especially Tarentine artists to create their own versions. Museum: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA.

Openwork furniture plaque with the head of a feline. Culture: Assyrian. Dimensions: 2.09 x 1.89 x 0.94 in. (5.31 x 4.8 x 2.39 cm). Date: ca. 9th-8th century B.C..Found in a storeroom at Fort Shalmaneser, a royal building at Nimrud that was used to store booty and tribute collected by the Assyrians while on military campaign, this piece depicts the frontal face of a feline wearing a beaded wesekh broad collar flanked by two rising sun-disc crowned uraei (mythical, fire-spitting serpents). This image is drawn from Egyptian art, where the head of a feline can represent both Bastet, the goddess of the city of Bubastis in the Nile Delta, and Sakhmet, the Egyptian goddess of war, disease, and chaos. This plaque has been attributed to the Phoenician style due to its Egyptian-influenced imagery. A tenon projecting from the feline's headdress suggests that this piece was originally fitted into a frame, likely as part of a piece of wooden furniture. Two dowel holes, one drilled into the tenon a

Statue of Dhrtarastra, (1368 - 1644 AD) The Capital Museum, Beijing, China

Joseph de Crefft, 1929-1936, Stone, pollensa museum, Majorca, Balearic Islands, Spain.

Seated Agastya ca 8th-9th century () Indonesia (Sumatra). Seated Agastya 39218

Bronze mirror support 1st quarter of the 5th century B.C. Greek Bronze mirror supports in the form of male figures are rare, especially from mainland Greece.. Bronze mirror support. Greek. 1st quarter of the 5th century B.C.. Bronze. Archaic. Bronzes

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Ceramic vessel, erotic art Moche culture 100 AC-800 AC Perú.

Brass plaque from Benin, Nigeria, West Africa. the British Museum London. Edo peoples, 16th century AD From Benin, Nigeria. There are over nine hundred plaques of this type in various museums in England, Europe and America. Many of the plaques now in The British Museum were collected during the British Punitive Expedition in 1897. They are thought to have been made in matching pairs and fixed to pillars in the Oba's palace in Benin City.

Intrani. Gold-plated bronze statue of the goddess Intrani, belonging to the image of Indra (Mak 1393). On base.

Molded plaque: female head ca. 2100-1750 B.C.. Molded plaque: female head. ca. 2100-1750 B.C.. Ceramic. Ur III-Isin-Larsa. Southern Mesopotamia

Figure of a Boy 19th century Japan. Figure of a Boy 60516

Japan, bronze statuette of Bosatsu

Demon z wężami - rzeźba przyścienna. unknown, sculptor

Seated Koki, 1400s. Japan, Muromachi period (1392-1573). Wood with pigment; overall: 28.5 cm (11 1/4 in.).

Roman-Egyptian, Faience amulet depicting the Lion Headed Hercules. 100-300 AD

'Mars'. Italy. Venice, Late 16th century. Dimensions: height: 15,0 cm. Museum: State Hermitage, St. Petersburg.

The Benin Bronzes are a collection of more than 3000 brass plaques from the royal palace of the Kingdom of Benin (located in present day Nigeria). They were seized by a British force in the Punitive Expedition of 1897. Bronzes are now believed to have been cast in Benin since the thirteenth century, and some in the collection date from the 15th and 16th centuries A warrior flanked by two shield bearers.

Gold rhyton-pitcher in the shape of a female head whose hair is covered by a veil of stars and a handle in the shape of a sphinx, from the Treasures of Panagjuriste, Plovdiv Region, Bulgaria. Goldsmith art. Thracian Civilization, 3rd-4th Century BC.

Tomb guardian beast (Zhenmushou) late 7th-8th century China. Tomb guardian beast (Zhenmushou) 63009

Cult relief of ZeusKyrios-Baalshamin

Woman from Elche. Iberian sculpture. 4th century B.C.. Discovered in 1897. Madrid, National museum of archeology. Location: MUSEO ARQUEOLOGICO NACIONAL-COLECCION. MADRID. SPAIN.

Krishna Killing the Horse Demon Keshi 5th century India (Uttar Pradesh) Vishnu appears in innumerable guises (avatars) on earth but none is more popular than that of Krishna, the warrior-king who freed his people from demonic threats. On one occasion the youthful Krishna slayed the demon Keshi, who appeared in the guise of a horse. This subject probably has its origins in Hellenistic legends, most notably the labors of Hercules in which the Greek hero slays the horses of Diomedes. In this terracotta relief Krishna restrains the ferocious Keshi with his foot while thrusting his elbow down the beast's throat. Below the combatants are the dead horse and balls of dung emitted at the moment of death. The graphically observed rendering of the subject is a reminder of the importance of horse sacrifices in early Indian Vedic cult practices, of which this Krishna myth undoubtedly preserves a memory. Temple building began in earnest in India only in the Gupta period, and these brick and stone st

Tomb figures of horses and camels, anonymous, c. 650 - c. 750 Graffer or image of earthenware in the form of a horse with a rider. Tang. China earthenware Graffer or image of earthenware in the form of a horse with a rider. Tang. China earthenware

Votive Plaque (Tsha Tsha). Tibet or China, 18th century. Sculpture. Terracotta with gilt and paint

Carthaginian Vase Fragment. Unknown

Seated Female Figure 6th-9th century Remojadas. Seated Female Figure 310525

One of the Five Celestial Buddhas, Seated with Hands in Gestures of Meditation (Dhyanamudra) and Reassurance (Abhaymudra). China. Date: 1403-1424. Dimensions: 18 × 12.3 × 9.3 cm (7 1/8 × 4 7/8 × 3 5/8 in.). Gilt copper alloy. Origin: China. Museum: The Chicago Art Institute, Chicago, USA.

Fragment of a terracotta relief 7th century B.C. Greek, Cretan Head of a young woman or a youth.. Fragment of a terracotta relief 254758 Greek, Cretan, Fragment of a terracotta relief, 7th century B.C., Terracotta, 3 in x 2 1/4 in. (7.6 cm x 5.7 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Gift of the Archaeological Institute of America, 1953 (53.5.33)

England, Somerset, Wells, The Bishop's Palace, The Chapel of the Holy Trinity and St.Mark, Head sculpture

Spain, Albacete, Cerro de los Santos, Statuette representing a couple making offers

ESCULTURA DE MUSICO EN METAL-PROC TIBET. Location: MUSEO NUEVA DELHI. NUEVA DELHI. India.

Parthian horseman, 5th-6th cent. AD. Iran.

The Hindu Goddess Shri Lakshmi. India, Kerala, 16th century. Sculpture. Copper alloy

Plaque depicting a horse and rider. Culture: Assyrian. Dimensions: 0.51 x 4.59 in. (1.3 x 11.66 cm). Date: ca. 883-859 B.C.. Museum: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA.

Puppet (Wayang Klitik) ofSalya

URNA ZAPOTECA REPRESENTA UN DIOS SENTADO. Location: MUSEO DE AMERICA-COLECCION. MADRID. SPANIEN.

Portrait of the Mother of Hotto Kokushi, 1680. Japan, Edo period (1615-1868). Wood with polychromy and inlaid crystal and stone eyes; overall: 60.3 cm (23 3/4 in.).

Roman bronze deity, 2nd century. Artist: Unknown

Female terracotta figure, 510-490 BC, Archaeological Museum in the former Order Hospital of the Knights of St. John, 15th century, Old Town, Rhodes Town, Greece, Europe

Lion 8th century China This regal lion, who steps on lotus blossoms atop an altar table, may have served as the mount for a figure of the bodhisattva Manjushri, the Buddhist embodiment of transcendent wisdom.. Lion. China. 8th century. Bronze with traces of gilding. Tang dynasty (618-907). Sculpture

Greek civilization, marble statue of Moscophoros (Calfbearer), 560-550 B.C., detail

Bodhisattva Guanyin of the South Sea, 1600s. China, Fujian Province, Ming dynasty (1368-1644) - Qing dynasty (1644-1911). Porcelain with white glaze, Dehua ware; overall: 45.2 cm (17 13/16 in.).

Grave stele, Whitaker Museum, Phoenician island of Mozia, outpost for merchants and seafarers, 12th century BC, Sicily, Moiza, Sicily, Italy, Europe

ARTE INDIO. INDIA. DIOS SHIVA (NATARAJA). Realizado en bronce. Tamil Nadu. Hacia el 1100. Dinastía Chola. Museo de Arte de Denver. Estado de Colorado. Estados Unidos.

China, Shanghai, Museum, statue,

Votive Plaque (Tsha Tsha). Tibet or China, 18th century. Sculpture. Terracotta with gilt and paint

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