This is an exceptional head of an Anatolian Kilia figure. While complete or nearly complete Kilia figures are rare, heads are far more abundant. It seems that many Kilia figures were broken in antiquity, perhaps for ritual purposes before their burial with the deceased. Kilia figures are often affectionately known as ‘Stargazers’, since their eyes are fixed on the heavens. This example has finely incised eyes, further incisions representing some kind of diadem, small protruding ears, and an exquisitely formed nose.

Kilia figures may have had a number of ritual uses. Like their cousins, the Cycladic female figurines, their purpose is often suggested to be as fertility totems, since the pubis is often emphasized, and the hands are often reaching around the stomach. Similarly to the Cycladic figurines, Kilia statuettes are not able to stand up on their own, so they must have been designed either to be handled as part of a religious ceremony, or to be placed on their backs in tomb assemblages.

This head is of extraordinarily fine quality. Even in the absence of a body, she expresses femininity, with a soft, rounded face, an exquisitely formed nose, and large almond-shaped eyes. Her delightful abstract form belies her great antiquity, calling to mind the works of Modigliani and Henry Moore. This work in particular demonstrates the mastery of form achieved by her anonymous Anatolian artist, which rivals anything achieved in modern art.