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Cycladic Keros flute-player
£50.00
One of the very rare male Cycladic figurines, this piece, along with the Cycladic harpist, are the first depictions of musicians in the Greek world. It was found in a tomb on 1884 on Keros, a deserted island opposite Amorgos. We do not know the purpose if this figurine - perhaps to entertain the deceased, or to comfort him in the other world. The original, dating to the third millennium BC, is now in the National Archaeological Museum in Athens. Height including his base: 23cm
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about Cycladic art
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 many artists, among them Picasso and Modigliani.
Cycladic art originates from a group of some 30 islands in the southwestern Aegean sea, 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 in bronze and marble are copies of originals in the National Archaeological Museum in Athens and in the Museum of Cycladic Art in Athens.
about the Keros pieces
The so-called Keros Hoard, excavated on the island of Keros, consisted of at least 350 figurines dating to ca 2800-2300 BCE. These originals were taken out of Greece in the 1950s and distributed to various museums and private collections. The fate of many of them is unknown. 81 of the pieces were repatriated and are now on display in the Museum of Cycladic Art in Athens.
about the material
Made in Greece at the workshop of the Lioulias family, with whom It's All Greek is proud to have been working since 2004.
The material is a lightweight plaster polymer compound with a light ochre finish applied by hand. There may, therefore, be a slight variation in colour from piece to piece. The piece is mounted on a lightweight polished resin base.