bronze Cycladic dove

Length: 9cm Height: 7cm

Original Cycladic figurines, carved in marble, were produced during the third millennium BC. They are remarkable for their abstract simplicity, which is believed to have inspired Picasso, Modigliani, and Moore.

Cycladic art originates from a group of some 30 islands in the southwestern Aegean, including Naxos and Paros, which were known for the quality of their marble. The ancient Greeks called these islands the Kyklades, imagining them as falling within a circle (kyklos) centred around the sacred island of Delos, the birthplace of Apollo and his twin sister Artemis, and the site of their holiest sanctuary.

These Cycladic pieces are copies of originals in the National Archaeological Museum in Athens and in the Museum of Cycladic Art in Athens.

Turtle-doves, which the Greeks call 'peristeri', were, in Greek mythology, the birds of love, sacred to the goddess Aphrodite. Doves were said to draw her heavenly chariot, and her seven daughters, the Pleiades, are known as the 'flock of doves'. The bird was also sacred to Demeter, the goddess of the fertility of the earth.

There is also reference of the dove with an olive branch, representing Eirene, the Greek goddess of peace and harmony.

The bronze pieces are cast in Greece using the traditional lost wax method. As nothing is mass-produced, there will inevitably be slight variations in texture, patina, and colour. No two pieces are ever the same. If mounted on a marble base, it will be a black or very dark grey base. There may be a variation of some millimetres in the dimensions of the base from time to time.

It's All Greek is proud to have been working with the Semitekolo family foundry since 1999. It has been a privilege to handle these gorgeous pieces and to sell them to customers all over the world.