enjoy 10% OFF with code AKROPOLIS10
free UK shipping over £50 | bespoke worldwide shipping
Cycladic Stargazer figurine
£50.00
So beautiful. A rare type of Neolithic figurine often classified as the 'Kilia' type, because the first examples were found at the site of Kilia on the Gallipoli peninsula in modern Turkey.These figurines represent some of theearliest known human figurative sculpture in the Aegean/Anatolian region. Though not exclusively found in the Cyclades, intact examples are extremely rare. What makes this type so distinctive is the way its head is tilted backwards, giving the impression that the figure is gazing upwards towards the sky or to the stars. Their exact purpose is uncertain, but their deliberate upward gaze suggests a symbolic significance.... maybe ritual or cosmological... As with other Cycladic figurines, the body is rendered schematically, with folded arms and minimal anatomical detail - the nose is clearly modelled. The original, dating to the 5th-4th millennium BCE, is now in the Museum of Cycladic Art in Athens. On loan fron the American School of Classical Studies at Athens.
dimensions: Height including base: 20cm
quantity
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 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.