EARLY SPEDOS VARIETY, CIRCA 2600-2500 B.C.

Details

A LARGE CYCLADIC MARBLE HEAD
EARLY SPEDOS VARIETY, CIRCA 2600-2500 B.C.
9 3⁄8 in. (23.8 cm.) high

Provenance

with N. Koutoulakis (1910-1996), Paris and Geneva, acquired by 1976.
Private Collection, New York, acquired from the above, 1977; thence by descent to the current owner.

Literature

J. Thimme, ed. Kunst und Kultur der Kykladeninseln im 3. Jahrtausend v. Chr., Karlsruhe, 1976, pp. 281, 474, no. 201.
J. Thimme, ed., Art and Culture of the Cyclades, Karlsruhe, 1977, pp. 281, 477, no. 201.
P. Getz-Gentle, Ancient Art of the Cyclades, Katonah, 2006, p. 36, no. 32, front cover.
P. Getz-Gentle, “Forum Response: The Keros Hoard Revisited,” American Journal of Archaeology, vol. 112, 2008, p. 300, n. 5; p. 303, n. 25.

Exhibited

Karlsruhe, Badisches Landesmuseum, Kunst und Kultur der Kykladeninseln im 3. Jahrtausend v. Chr., 25 June-10 October 1976.
Katonah Museum of Art, Ancient Art of the Cyclades, 1 October-31 December 2006.

Conditions of sale

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Hannah Fox Solomon Head of Department, Specialist

hsolomon@christies.com +1 212 636 2256

Lot Essay

This impressive lyre-shaped head tapers inwards at the forehead and has a rounded jaw line. The slender triangular nose is well centered. According to Getz-Gentle (op. cit., 2006, p. 36), this head was originally part of an unusually large reclining figure, speculated to be more than 37 in. (95 cm.) in length. For other examples similar in style and size, see no. 171 in C. Doumas, Cycladic Art, Ancient Sculpture and Art from the N.P. Goulandris Collection and p. 41 in J.-L. Martinez, La Grèce au Louvre.

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