Bird-shaped amulet. Sumer, Mesopotamia, 3300–2900 B.C.

Bird-shaped amulet. Sumer, Mesopotamia, 3300–2900 B.C.
Stone.
Measurements: 8 cm long.
Provenance: Family bequest from Ramon Martí Alsina and Ricard Martí Aguiló. An archaeological collection assembled beginning in the 1950s by successive generations of the family through purchases at European galleries and auction houses. It previously belonged to a private collection in Hampshire, Great Britain.

Sumerian art is particularly notable for its sculpture. Sumerian sculpture possesses a series of characteristics that make it unique and that it conveys. They created both free-standing sculptures and reliefs, both sharing the same characteristics. The materials used are limestone or chalky alabaster, which lends a greater finesse to the craftsmanship. The subjects depicted are drawn from everyday life, which gives them great historical significance. There is none of the fantasy found in Egyptian art because religion is not the central theme.