★ Extremely Rare ★

Large Cycladic Marble Idol. (1.2 kg, 17cm (6 3/4")), 3rd Millennium BC. A large carved marble idol depicting a stylised conical head with sharply-defined nose, slit mouth, shallow eyes with defined eyebrows, small D-shaped ears. Fine uncleaned condition.

The so-called 'Cycladic culture' developed in the islands of the Aegean Sea from the mid-4th millennium BC around 1100 BC. Cycladic people are counted among the three major Aegean cultures, with the Minoan civilization and Mycenaean Greece. The best known type of surviving Cycladic artwork is the marble figurine. These are usually depicting a full-length female with her arms folded across her chest. She usually features a sharply-defined nose, and smooth D-shaped face. The present example differs from the standard in having a rounded or fusiform profile, but some of the standard Cycladic features are nevertheless present. The D-shaped face is outlined here in low-relief and the nose retains its sharpness but the addition of eyes and other features changes the impact and appearance of the carving considerably. The small conical cap is also a departure from the classic form of the female head

Ex Timeline Auctions, 3-9 September, lot 0331, Previously in an old Dutch collection formed in the 1970s.