A Sumerian Copper Figure of a Deity, Uruk IV, circa 3300-3100 B.C.

seated on the ground with his legs folded assymetrically beneath him, and holding his clasped hands on his left thigh, his powerful body with narrow waist, deep chest, and broad shoulders, and wearing a belt, bracelet on the left wrist, and remains of ornaments on the shoulders, his face with long spade-shaped beard, smiling mouth, prominent aquiline nose, and wide-set eyes recessed for inlay, the long wavy hair falling over his shoulders in back, and in front of his ears and onto his chest in front, and crowned by a cylindrical diadem supporting a high flaring vessel with remains of sunk relief decoration.  

Boustros Collection, Beirut and Paris, acquired in 1954
Sleiman Aboutaam, acquired in the mid 1970s
acquired by the present owner in the early 1980s

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1986-2008 (inv. no. L1986.30)

Edith Porada, "A Male Figure in the Style of the Uruk Period," Near Eastern Studies. Dedicated to H.I.H. Prince Takahito Mikasa On the Occasion of His Seventy-Fifth Birthday, Wiesbaden, 1991, pp. 335-346, figs. 1-9
In Pursuit of the Absolute. Art of the Ancient World from the George Ortiz Collection, London, 1994, no. 14 and note 5

Intact except for a repair across right ankle, and a small repair to rim of crown on proper left side (both repairs visible in the photos); small ornament on proper left shoulder is missing. Surface of figure is eroded as shown.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

For a related figure identified as a lahmu, or "hairy one," based on its athletic body and long curly hair, see the hero holding a lion in each arm on a vessel with relief decoration in the British Museum: A. Parrot, Sumer: The Dawn of Art, New York, 1961, fig. 96; Porada, op. cit., fig. 7.

For a ruler figure from Uruk with similarly developed arms and upper torso see Porada, op. cit., fig. 6 (Art of the First Cities, J. Aruz., ed., New York, 2003, p. 25, fig. 11b).

Regarding the possible function of the present figure Edith Porada writes (op. cit., pp. 337-338): "Figures that are connected with such small containers as the vessel on the head of our figure or the basin let into a socle on which sits the emaciated figure of Fig. 9 [cf. E. Porada, "An Emaciated Figure in Cincinnati," Studies Presented to A. Leo Oppenheim, Chicago, 1964, figs. 1-3, 6, 7], which belong to a group made a thousand years later than the male figure under discussion, may have served one or two purposes: as a base for a light or to hold incense. In both cases the metal from which the early figure and the later ones with small containers were made would have been a safeguard against accidental fire."