Pair of Greek Cycladic Marble Limbs - Arm & Foot
**Originally Listed At $1200**
Ancient Greece, Cycladic (final Neolithic) period, ca. 2600 to 2300 BCE. A fine set of two anthropomorphic limbs - an arm and a leg - hand-carved from chalky yellow-white marble. The smaller limb shows an arm bent at the elbow with a narrow wrist on one end and a smooth shoulder on the other. The larger limb depicts a leg with a tapering calf, a narrow ankle, and an enormous crescent-shaped foot. Size of largest (leg): 2.7" W x 3" H (6.9 cm x 7.6 cm).
Cycladic figures from this period are generally tall, thin, female figures, who are mostly found in graves, but limbs like these probably came from males - female legs and arms were almost always posed tightly together rather than separated as these are. These legs look like those from the famous "Harp Player" figures, like the one in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (47.100.1). The figures seem to have been produced for a long time, in various sizes, with abstract features. Modern artists like Picasso and Modigliani fell in love with these figures, and their simplicity makes this easy to understand. However, the pristine, abstract form that we see today does not reflect the sculptures that these ancient Greeks actually produced - they would have been brightly painted to give them features like eyes and mouths.
To see the Harp Player Figure, please see The Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession number 47.100.1
Provenance: private East Coast, USA collection; ex-Erika Hughes collection, New York, USA, acquired in the 1980s
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.
#146922
Condition Report: Both items are fragments of larger sculptures. Each item has minor abrasions and nicks, light encrustations, and small chips. Nice earthen deposits throughout.
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**Originally Listed At $1200**
Ancient Greece, Cycladic (final Neolithic) period, ca. 2600 to 2300 BCE. A fine set of two anthropomorphic limbs - an arm and a leg - hand-carved from chalky yellow-white marble. The smaller limb shows an arm bent at the elbow with a narrow wrist on one end and a smooth shoulder on the other. The larger limb depicts a leg with a tapering calf, a narrow ankle, and an enormous crescent-shaped foot. Size of largest (leg): 2.7" W x 3" H (6.9 cm x 7.6 cm).
Cycladic figures from this period are generally tall, thin, female figures, who are mostly found in graves, but limbs like these probably came from males - female legs and arms were almost always posed tightly together rather than separated as these are. These legs look like those from the famous "Harp Player" figures, like the one in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (47.100.1). The figures seem to have been produced for a long time, in various sizes, with abstract features. Modern artists like Picasso and Modigliani fell in love with these figures, and their simplicity makes this easy to understand. However, the pristine, abstract form that we see today does not reflect the sculptures that these ancient Greeks actually produced - they would have been brightly painted to give them features like eyes and mouths.
To see the Harp Player Figure, please see The Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession number 47.100.1
Provenance: private East Coast, USA collection; ex-Erika Hughes collection, New York, USA, acquired in the 1980s
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.
#146922
Condition Report: Both items are fragments of larger sculptures. Each item has minor abrasions and nicks, light encrustations, and small chips. Nice earthen deposits throughout.
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Time, Location
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