100% of the Hammer price of all lots sold in this auction will be donated to Community Food Share by Artemis Gallery. $1.00 = 3 meals!

**Originally Listed At $100**

Ancient Near East, Anatolia, modern-day Turkey, Neolithic Chalcolithic period, ca. 5500 to 3000 BCE. A wonderful hand-built redware pottery head of a miniature size with a tall ovoid form, an elongated neck, coffee-bean-shaped eyes, a perky nose, and an impressed mouth, all beneath a simple coiffure that drapes to the base. Ancient idols like this one, that reduce the human figure to minimalist shapes and lines, are considered some of our oldest abstract art. They fascinate us today in part because they hint at a belief system and cosmology that we can no longer access or understand. Instead, we guess at the meaning - are they fertility charms? Representations of old gods? Were they made to be carried as apotropaic charms, or simply to be placed in tombs? Size: 0.4" W x 1.1" H (1 cm x 2.8 cm); 1.375" H (3.5 cm) on included custom stand.

Provenance: private East Coast, USA collection

All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back.

A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids.

We ship worldwide to most countries and handle all shipping in-house for your convenience.

#137636

This is a fragment of a larger pottery figure. Minor nicks to neck base and light softening to some finer details, otherwise intact and very good. Light earthen deposits throughout.

“To eliminate hunger in Boulder and Broomfield Counties through engagement, collaboration, and leadership…”

Community Food Share is a Feeding America food bank serving those in need with access to fresh, nutritious food and nutrition education, with a special emphasis on children, seniors, and other populations of greatest need.