Analysis of an Artifact: Statuette of a Striding Figure

The artifact I chose at the Art Institute at Chicago museum is titled Statuette of a Striding Figure. Statuette of a Striding Figure is considered the oldest artifact that is currently displayed at the Art Institute of Chicago today. It has been around for 5, 000 years and has been dated about 3, 100 BC from the Proto-Elamite culture. This culture is one of the earliest cultures around that hotbed of civilization called the ancient Near East.

This statue is 17. 5 cm high and 5. 4 cm wide. It is made out of copper alloy (metalwork-sculpture). The technique of making him was to melt the material down and cast it. Though it is mainly a composite of copper, he has a stone or shell on him. He is one solid cast piece. There is another version of him that was made exactly the same, though he is displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The only difference between him and the one at the Metropolitan Museum of Art at New York was that the one in New York does not have a clear face like the one in the Art Institute in Chicago. The one in Chicago has a clear face such as eyes, nose, and mouth, but the New York one has a broken face.

This statue that is currently displayed now at the Art Institute at Chicago differs from statues of today in its quality, age, and irregularity of its topic and physical formation — with one special case, its replica. The overall significance of this artifact is to tell a story of a supernatural being that takes people from the physical world into the spiritual world and how certain cultures have their own beliefs in the past. Statuette of a Striding Figure is one of the oldest pieces at the museum compared to any other artifact at the Art Institute of Chicago. It also has a green-ish a color to it, unlike any other artifact. In this artifact, it looks like the statue is walking, because the statue is swinging his hands along while stepping his right leg forward. His horned headdress and the long curved boots are similar in shape. In this piece, it also looks like the statue is looking at something as if it was mad because his eyes are wide open and looking straight ahead. In addition, his fists are clenched. This statute is muscular and has a very long beard. It also looks like he is wearing something on his back, though it is unclear what it is. He also wears a belt. Upon a closer look, one can see that this artifact is very well detailed. It provides a lot of small details and textures.

In this artifact, his original greenish color is almost permanently lost on his upper shoulders and his legs. As it is getting older, it’s green color is changing and it looks like it now has two colors: the copper color inside and the green. This statue also seems to associated with an animal because the statue is wearing animal horns. In fact, this statue does seem like a supernatural being because of the way he demonstrated himself including wearing unusual thing such as an animal horned headdress. This shows that they are significant because they know what they doing. The reason why I choose this artifact is that their culture and belief is unique to me. It’s also unique to me because they were the earliest culture from Proto-Elamite culture. The horned headdress he was wearing is meant to represent that he is powerful. Their culture was believing in non-existing such as supernatural world and sprite. In fact, they have created the statue which is the Statuette of a Striding Figure made out of copper so they can express their cultural beliefs in a way it will last for a long time. This belief of the supernatural world by Photo-Elamite culture is important because many cultures today still believe in a supernatural world. For instance, many cultures today believe in ghosts, monsters or demons. The “supernatural world” came up by the early Proto-Elamite culture seems to has a connection today. Therefore, this artifact is special because it doesn’t only represent the Proto-Elamite culture beliefs which were in the past but it also seems to have a connection to what we believe in today.

Another of the reasons why choosing Statuette of a Striding Figure is important to me is because I am impressed with how it was made especially with the alloy copper about 5, 000 years ago. The color used in the statuette made me think about the technology available at the time. Their technology must have been already advanced because they knew how to create something that could last for a long time period, based on the fact that the statuette is 5, 000 years old. It impressed me with their technique and technology and how they chose copper on this particular statue. For instance, they could have made him out of wood or limestone like most other newer artifacts, though it is one solid copper alloy and unbreakable statue. After carefully looking at this statue, it reminded me of Winter’s article where she talks about the narrative in art- how art may provide a narrative without necessarily having a brief description of the statue or art. By looking at this statue, I could already make sense of what it is going to be about. For example, when I first discovered this statute at the museum, I knew it would provide historical contexts about a supernatural without reading its descriptions. The way it's showing already have a meaning. After spending enough times and effort staring at this statuette, this statuette makes me feel emotional or sad when looking at his face. The statuette’s face looks disappointed or sad as if he were begging for something from someone. However, I felt creeped out at the same time because I have never seen anything like this before: the way he looks and the way he is wearing certain things such as a horned headdress and spiky boots. I couldn’t figure out how wearing a horned headdress represents that he is at the top of his people.

In addition, the one that is displayed in New York looks even more creepy compared to the one in the Chicago museum because the New York one’s face is messed up. In this case, the Statuette of a Striding Figure face looks disappointed because his eyes were wide opening and the statue face looks unhappy. The statue face was not smiling or moving its mouth. Instead, only his eyes were opening. In addition, the body suggests sadness or begging because his back was not straight up and he looks like he is trying to reach something he wants. The style of the Statuette of a Striding Figure created by the Proto-Elamite culture is similar to “Statuette of the so-called “priest-king” which we have covered in our lecture. “Statuette of the so-called “priest-king” and Statuette of a Striding Figure are both male human figurines. They both have similar movements such as their hand gestures and they both wear a hat. In addition, they both have a long beard and clenched fists. The “Statuette of the so-called “priest-king” is dated about the Late Uruk Period (3300-3100 BCE) found in Iran. Moreover, these two artifacts both have faces. Although “Statuette of a Striding Figure” has a greenish color to it, the “priest-king” is colored grey.

Overall, after exploring many different artifacts at the Art Institute, the Statuette of a Striding Figure, in particular, stuck with me because I feel most connected to him due to his uniqueness. He was the oldest piece in the gallery and there are only two of them in existence, with the other one being displayed in New York. Unlike some other artifacts, there are not many of them. I feel this artifact is important because the historical context behind this statute has a connection to my culture as well today. This artifact is connected to my culture today because we also believe a supernatural world. For example, we believe in ghost and spirits. Overall, upon seeing this artifact Statuette of a Striding Figure, we can say that their culture believing in the supernatural world is important and still alive and strong because what they believe in the past causes many of us today to believe in similar things as them.