Early Cycladic Violin Figure
date: label: Accession Date
content: 28 Aug 1992
label: Collection Date
content: 1962
name: label: Collector
content: Joseph Hirshhorn
label: Donor Name
content: Hirshhorn Museum & Sculpture Garden
notes: label: Notes
content: PROVENIENCE UNDOCUMENTED. IDENTIFICATION PROVIDED BY HMSG. PURCHASED BY J HIRSHHORN FROM THE KNOEDLER & CO, INC., M., NEW YORK, IN 1962. CARVED FIGURE FEATURES A FEMALE W/ FOLDED ARMS & FAINT FEATURES INCLUDING BREASTS, NAVEL, PUBIC AREA, & NO LEGS. DOROTHY KENT HILL DATES THIS PIECE TO THIRD MILLENIUM B.C.
label: Notes
content: Violin figurine. Early Bronze Age / Early Cycladic I (3200-2800 BC). From the island of Amorgos, the Cyclades, Aegean Sea. An example of the schematic figurine. Throughout the Early Bronze Age in the Cyclades (approximately the third millennium BC) marble figurines were produced in two basic types: schematic and naturalistic. Schematic types, like this example, are most common in the earliest period of figurine production, though they continued to be made in parallel to the naturalistic examples. This figure, with its characteristic outline, belongs to the so-called 'violin' type. Many 'violin' figures are completely plain, but in this piece the addition of breasts, arms and the pubic triangle makes the relationship to the human body more obvious. The head is simply an elongated prong, a very common form among the schematic figurines. The legs are not apparent at all. There are many seated or squatting female figures among the Neolithic predecessors to this type, and they frequently have legs that are diminutive or tucked away completely.
label: Notes
content: SEE SI ARCHIVES
label: Record Last Modified
content: 10 May 2024
label: Specimen Count
content: 1
place: label: Place
content: Not Given, Greece, Europe
topic: label: Topic
content: Archaeology
culture: label: Culture
content: Cycladic
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 370312
label: USNM Number
content: A553102-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Sculpture
physicalDescription: label: Length - Object
content: 17.5 cm
label: Width - Object
content: 4.8 cm
label: Height - Object
content: 1.2 cm