Statuette of a standing woman dressed in chiton and peplos

Historical period(s)
Byzantine period, 5th-6th century
Medium
Rock crystal
Dimensions
H (overall): 9.5 cm (3 3/4 in)
Geography
Turkey, Istanbul
Credit Line
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art
Accession Number
F1909.61
On View Location
Freer Gallery 20: A Collector’s Eye: Freer in Egypt
Classification(s)
Sculpture
Type

Figure: human

Keywords
Byzantine period (330 - 1453), Turkey, woman
Provenance

To 1909
Maurice Nahman (1868-1948), Cairo, Egypt, to 1909 [1]

From 1909 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Maurice Nahman in 1909 [2]

From 1920
Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]

Notes:

[1] See Original Miscellaneous List, pg. 72, S.I. 176 Mis., Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.

[2] See note 1.

[3] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.

Previous Owner(s) and Custodian(s)

Charles Lang Freer 1854-1919
Maurice Nahman (C.L. Freer source) 1868-1948

Label

In 1909, Charles Lang Freer purchased nine objects from a treasure of thirty-six pieces found in Egypt. Scholars initially thought the objects were from an Egyptian workshop, but recent studies suggest that the "treasure" was probably made in Constantinople (modern Istanbul), the capital of the Byzantine Empire (330-1453). Very likely the objects arrived in Egypt shortly after they were made, sometime between 500 and 700, either as gifts from the Byzantine Emperor or as valuables acquired by a prominent Egyptian family.


The Byzantine Empire included parts of Europe and western Asia and lay at the Mediterranean terminus of the Silk Route.

Published References
  • Thomas Lawton. The Gold Treasure. vol. 118, no. 258 London, August 1983. fig. 5.
Collection Area(s)
Ancient Near Eastern Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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