Anatolian, Neolithic, 6th millennium B.C.

Stone

Serial: 35567

H: 2.7 cm (1.1 in)

The "idol", of miniature size and pierced through the stomach, represents a seated woman, with rounded and abundant forms comparable to those of so-called "steatopygous" figures of the Neolithic era. These were supposed to be in close relation (or to represent) the Mother Goddess, a great mythological figure protecting the fertility of animals and fields alike. She would have been venerated in a region very vast and varied, from the Near East to West-Central Europe.

Provenance

Frank Sternberg AG, Antike Münzen, Auction XXV, Zurich, 24,25 November 1991, lot 909;

Christie's, New York, 7 December 2000, lot 661;

The Gilbert collection, Cambridge, Massachusetts, acquired in New York, 7 December 2000.