AN ANATOLIAN MARBLE IDOL

NEOLITHIC PERIOD, CIRCA EARLY 6TH MILLENNIUM B.C.

Details

AN ANATOLIAN MARBLE IDOL
NEOLITHIC PERIOD, CIRCA EARLY 6TH MILLENNIUM B.C.
The schematic corpulent figure with a globular body, the limbs not delineated, the short, thick neck with a pronounced double chin merging with the oblong head, the round face with a wide chin below the small, straight mouth, the cheeks full and fleshy, the eyes large and almond-shaped, with thick lids beneath modelled arching brows that merge with the bridge of the straight, triangular nose, the ears indicated by vertical raised ovals protruding from either side of the head, each notched, a peaked cap worn high above the large forehead
7 in. (18.2 cm.) high

Provenance

American Private Collection, mid 1970s, thence by descent.

Lot Essay

A tradition of schematic human idols, usually female, sculpted in clay or stone, is well-represented during the Neolithic Period in Anatolia. Examples have been found dating to the 7th millennium at Çatal Hüyük. Their characteristic corpulence likely had a fertility significance, which, to the early farming societies, was also connected to the fecundity of the earth.

For a white marble corpulent kneeling woman with related facial features see no. 162 in Amiet, Art of the Ancient Near East.

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