Rectangular Base of Statue with Feet and Lower Legs, from the series The Invisible Enemy Should Not Exist

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© Michael Rakowitz. Image courtesy of the Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art at Hamilton Colle…
Rectangular Base of Statue with Feet and Lower Legs, from the series The Invisible Enemy Should Not Exist
© Michael Rakowitz. Image courtesy of the Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art at Hamilton College, Clinton, NY. Photo by John Bentham.
Artist/Maker (Iraqi-American, born 1973)
Date2020
MediumMiddle Eastern food packaging, Arabic-language U.S. newspapers, and glue, with accompanying didactic information
DimensionsOverall: 1 3/4 × 1 3/8 × 1 3/8 in. (4.4 × 3.5 × 3.5 cm)
Credit LinePurchase, William G. Roehrick '34 Art Acquisition and Preservation Fund
Object number2021.5.5
On view
DescriptionInventory number: Unknown Excavation number: Kh. IV 308 Provenance: Khafaje Dimension(s): 4.3 x 3 x 2.9 cm Material: Limestone Date: Early Dynastic II–III (ca. 2600–2400 bce) Description: Rectangular base of statue with feet and legs; dowel hole in center Status: Unknown We also have some good number of items seized in neighboring countries: 38 pieces in Kuwait, 18 in Saudi Arabia, 1,250 in Jordan, 360 in Syria. We have 300 in Italy and over 600 in the United States. They have surfaced in those countries and been seized by the authorities there. Our museum is very close to Haifa Street, where we have incidents almost daily. We believe this is not the right time now to have [the pieces] back. Since we know all about them and are promised them back whenever we want them, it is better to keep them in these countries. —Donny George

Additional Details

Exhibition History 2021
Clinton, NY (Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art, Hamilton College). MICHAEL RAKOWITZ: NIMRUD, October 19, 2020 - June 18, 2021.
Provenance 2021: Hamilton College (Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art), by purchase from Rhona Hoffman Gallery, Chicago.
Artwork is in the public domain. Image courtesy of the Ruth and Elmer Museum of Art at Hamilton…
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© Michael Rakowitz. Image courtesy of the Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art at Hamilton Colle…
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Medium: Middle Eastern food packaging, Arabic-language U.S. newspapers, and glue, with accompanying didactic information
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Image courtesy of the Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art at Hamilton College, Clinton, NY. Pho…
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© Michael Rakowitz. Image courtesy of the Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art at Hamilton Colle…
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Medium: Middle Eastern food packaging, Arabic-language U.S. newspapers, and glue, with accompanying didactic information
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