Lot 4
** A portion of the proceeds from the sale of this artwork will be donated to the Anthony Quinn Foundation, whose mission is to advocate for the important role arts education plays in personal development and in the overall improvement of social, economic and cultural systems. Learn more at aqfoundation.org **
Roman, Republic to Imperial period, ca. 400 BCE to 200 CE. A fascinating, hollow-molded pottery votive of a uterus presenting an ovoid body that narrows to a brief neck representing the cervix and then ends with a triangular opening, perhaps intended as the vulva. Sitting upon a flat base, the ancient anatomical sculpture has thick walls that rise to a central ridge and 3 horizontal raised ribs that with bulbs of applied clay at the center. A petite sphere of clay is contained within the votive, which represents an embryo and produces a rattling sound when shaken. Size: 5.9" L x 2.9" W x 2.8" H (15 cm x 7.4 cm x 7.1 cm)
Ancient Italy and Greece had Asklepions, sanctuaries dedicated to Asklepios, the god of healing, where the sick and those concerned about them could travel to pray for better health. Animal sacrifices and ceramic or bronze votive offerings were made at altars within these sanctuaries. Often, these votives were in the form of disembodied, sometimes abstract, body parts. Many scholars have suggested that they represent the afflicted body parts of the ill, placed to ask for healing, but that is speculative, and the meaning of these evocative objects remains elusive.
Votive uteri like this example were created as offerings to the gods in request of good health or perhaps a successful pregnancy. Pregnancy was important to Romans as the medical cure for most female ailments was considered to be pregnancy and marriage - empty wombs were thought to dry out and wander around the body causing suffocation and unmarried women were considered at risk of suffering hallucinations or throwing themselves down a well. The unusual form of such uteri was due to only a basic comprehension of human anatomy as those in antiquity rarely practiced exploratory dissection and the uterus was only seen when a baby was surgically removed from a mother who died in childbirth. Scholars posit that, based on the variety of uteri forms, they may represent other internal organs such as the appendix, bladder, or pancreas. Clappers have been found in a few other pottery uteri as well, allowing them to function as rattles and suggesting that they were perhaps given to children as toys, dually serving to amuse the child's senses and ward off evil, or used during fertility ceremonies.
Cf. the British Museum, museum number 1865, 1118.119 and Princeton University Art Museum, object number 2000-344.
Provenance: ex-private collection of actor Anthony Quinn and his wife Katherine, Bristol, Rhode Island, USA acquired prior to 2000
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#168581
- Condition: Still functions as a rattle. Restoration to applied clay bulbs. Small area of loss to base. Expected nicks, chips, pitting, and abrasions, commensurate with age and use. Otherwise, excellent with nice earthen deposits and liberal remains of red slip.
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