bronze Cycladic steatopygous figurine (small)

Height: 9cm Knees to buttocks circumference: 12cm(!)

This rare type of Cycladic figurine is characterized by a fleshy abdomen, huge thighs and buttocks, exuding nourishment and fertility. By contrast, the figure's upper torso is flat in profile with the arms typically framing V-shaped, pendulous breasts.

There are examples of these figurines in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

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.

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.