Numerous earthenware sculptures and decorative objects have been unearthed in the environs of Trowulan (or Trawulan), the former capital of the Majapahit Empire (1292–1527) in Eastern Java. While many of the figural representations are carved in relief (see M.86.345.23), some are carved in the round such as this elegant smiling woman. She wears a head scarf (selendang) wrapped around her head and a sarong covering her breasts. She stands with her right leg akimbo and holds her left hand across her abdomen. A long ponytail extends down her back to her waist.
See A. J. Bernet Kempers, Ancient Indonesian Art (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1959), p. 95, pl. 291; and H. R. A. Muller, Javanese Terracottas: Terra Incognita (Lochem, The Netherlands: Tijdstroom, 1978), pp. 22-23, pls. 23-24. See also M.83.117.1–.2 and AC1993.239.3.
