Mother Goddess Middle East, Tell Halaf, 3rd millennium BC. Terracotta 5,7 cm H. Provenace: Private collection, Paris, 1970. Condition: Intact, see photos. A wonderful, hand-built pottery fertility figure seated upon bent legs with ample thighs. She sits with an upright posture, has a slender waist, and holds aloft her voluptuous breasts with slender arms. The figure features sloping shoulders which taper inward to form the narrow neck, and her tab-shaped head exhibits a pinched nose and a conical brow. As early as the 7th millennium BCE, cultures in the Near East began creating organized settlements with highly developed religious as well as funerary practices. The Halaf culture of Anatolia (central Turkey) and northern Syria produced mesmerizing female figurines with fertility attributes. Whether images like these were intended to represent real, ideal, or divine women is unknown; however, scholars believe that their primary purpose was to encourage female fertility. Notes: - The piece includes authenticity certificate. - The seller guarantees that he acquired this piece according to all national and international laws related to the ownership of cultural property. Provenance statement seen by Catawiki.