© British Museum
The Queen of the Night Relief (The Burney Relief)
Artist: Mesopotamian
Location: British Museum
Date: circa 1800-1750 BC
Materials: baked straw-tempered clay with traces of red, blank and white paint
Dimensions: 49.5 x 36 x 4.8cm
Grant:
Amount Paid: £200,000 (Total: £1,500,000)
Vendor: Mr Goro Sakamoto
Review number: 5205 (2003)
Provenance:
Probably from Babylonia (southern Iraq); Selim Homsy and Co, London, 1920s; Sidney Burney, 1936; Colonel Norman Colville of Launceston, Cornwall until 1974; Sotheby's; Mr Goro Sakamoto; on loan to the British Museum 1976-1991, then 1999 onwards.
Description:
A large terracotta plaque with relief decoration showing a naked goddess, probably Ishtar, with wings and bird claws for feet. She wears a horned headdress and holds a rod and ring in each of her raised hands. She is standing on a pair of lions flanked by two standing owls. There are traces of paint on the relief indicating it was originally painted.
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