Statuette of a Reclining Woman (c. 100 BCE–100 CE): Art, History and Details

Statuette of a Reclining Woman (c. 100 BCE–100 CE) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

This tiny statuette is made from amber, or fossilized tree sap. A nude woman reclines against a rocky feature, surrounded by sumptuous piles of fabric which wind around her right arm and leg. Her gaze is upturned, loose hair framing her face. There are cracks throughout the figure, and she is missing both hands and some of her face. She may represent a nymph or maenad.

Object facts

• Title: Statuette of a Reclining Woman
• Date: c. 100 BCE–100 CE
• Culture: Greek, Hellenistic, or Roman
• Type: Sculpture
• Technique: amber
• Dimensions: Overall: 2.5 cm (1 in.)
• Collection: GR - Greek
• Department: Greek and Roman Art
• Accession number: 1964.418

A detail from the museum

Amber can range in color from bright yellow to deep red depending on its origins.

Collection credit

Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Sherman E. Lee

Further reading listed by the museum

• Cleveland Museum of Art. “Year in Review for 1964.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 51, no. 10 (1964): 236–66.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.