Figurine Fragment

CBS Register: mold. br. clay figurine. Woman at the tamborine

PBS XVI: tympanon player. Nude woman holding the tambourine in her left arm. The lower edge of the disc is placed in the hollow of the hand, the thumb behind, the fingers flat in front. The instrument is raised at the level of the breast, its orb projecting outside over the left arm. The right hand extends across the body, while the fingers drum on the flat surface. The broad face of the player, where the force of age has replaced the grace of youth, has a faint almost provoking smile and must be true to type. THe large and prominent eyes, eyebrows and cheekbones, the round nose, protruding and sensuous lips are scarcely exaggerated. The waved hair falling in curls on the shoulders, the necklace and bracelets are the only adornments of the nude player. Nude musicians added a perverted excitement to Greek and Roman banquets. Musicians accompanied funeral rites. Their nudity is not easily explained. It is true that in remote Sumerian times the libator priest would perform entirely nude before the divinity to prove himself ritually pure.

The faces were stamped with the use of a mold, the bodies seem hand-modelled or retouched. Pubes, navel, fingers are incised. the legs are close together and rest on a base.