**Originally Listed At $300**

Ancient Near East, present-day Turkey, Anatolia, ca. 2800 to 2200 BCE. A wondrous example of an abstract stargazer idol known as a kilia, hand-carved from creamy white marble. The trapezoidal artifact features a broad, pinched brow with an acutely angled edge, tapered lateral peripheries, a slender neck, and a vertically severed 'face' which perhaps contained a pair of minimalist eyes at one time. Kilia idols are highly stylized female figures carved throughout the Mediterranean during the Chalcolithic period and Early Bronze Age. Archaeologists have interpreted these figures as female and call them "stargazers" because their heads are tilted upwards. When first carved, the faces would have exhibited painted details such as eyes. Size: 1.57" W x 2.05" H (4 cm x 5.2 cm); 2.57" H (6.5 cm) on included custom stand.

Provenance: East Coast collection, New York Gallery, New York City, New York, USA, acquired before 2010

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#154241

This is a head from a larger figure. Face vertically severed as shown, but likely occurred in antiquity based on the surface smoothness relative to that of the remaining surface area of the piece. Minor abrasions, nicks, and light encrustations. Great preservation to overall abstract form. Drilled through bottom of neck for mounting and display purposes.