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Lot Essay
In a dated 21 June 2013 report, the renowned Cycladic art scholar P. Getz-Gentle observed that this elegant head from a reclining female figure preserves a small portion of the right shoulder at the flaring base of the long neck. The head is lyre-shaped, curving backwards when viewed in profile, with a slender nose centered above the round chin. A shallow groove on each side of the reverse separates the top of the neck from the head. In comparison to surviving complete examples, it is likely that the original length of this figure was approximately 23 inches long.
Although much admired since the early 20th century for their austere white marble surfaces, Cycladic figures were originally brightly painted with the facial details, hair, and jewelry rendered in vermillion cinnabar and azurite blue. In most cases, these pigments are no longer present, but it is possible to distinguish places on the surface that were once painted – known as a “paint ghost.” On the present example, traces of the hair can be seen in the band across the top of the forehead, extending to the back of the figure, and in the adjoining curling locks on the proper left side. Most notably, the left eye remains clearly defined, while the right eye is only partially discernible. For a discussion on the use of pigment on Cycladic figures, see E.A. Hendrix, “Painted Early Cycladic Figures: An Exploration of Context and Meaning,” Hesperia, vol. 72, no. 4, pp. 405–446.
For a related figure showing a similar curvature of the head when viewed in profile, see the example in the Honolulu Academy of Arts, no. 55 in P. Getz-Preziosi, Early Cycladic Art in North American Collections.
Although much admired since the early 20th century for their austere white marble surfaces, Cycladic figures were originally brightly painted with the facial details, hair, and jewelry rendered in vermillion cinnabar and azurite blue. In most cases, these pigments are no longer present, but it is possible to distinguish places on the surface that were once painted – known as a “paint ghost.” On the present example, traces of the hair can be seen in the band across the top of the forehead, extending to the back of the figure, and in the adjoining curling locks on the proper left side. Most notably, the left eye remains clearly defined, while the right eye is only partially discernible. For a discussion on the use of pigment on Cycladic figures, see E.A. Hendrix, “Painted Early Cycladic Figures: An Exploration of Context and Meaning,” Hesperia, vol. 72, no. 4, pp. 405–446.
For a related figure showing a similar curvature of the head when viewed in profile, see the example in the Honolulu Academy of Arts, no. 55 in P. Getz-Preziosi, Early Cycladic Art in North American Collections.