Barakat Gallery
Skip to main content
  • Menu
  • Home
  • Artworks
  • Exhibitions
  • About
  • Contact
Menu
  • Menu

The Barakat Collection

Open a larger version of the following image in a popup: Head of an Anatolian Kilia-type Figure ('Stargazer'), 3300 BC - 2500 BC

Head of an Anatolian Kilia-type Figure ('Stargazer'), 3300 BC - 2500 BC

Marble
5.5 x 5 x 4 cm
2 1/8 x 2 x 1 5/8 in
CC.4
Enquire
%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22title_and_year%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_title%22%3EHead%20of%20an%20Anatolian%20Kilia-type%20Figure%20%28%27Stargazer%27%29%3C/span%3E%2C%20%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_year%22%3E3300%20BC%20-%202500%20BC%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22medium%22%3EMarble%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22dimensions%22%3E5.5%20x%205%20x%204%20cm%3Cbr/%3E%0A2%201/8%20x%202%20x%201%205/8%20in%3C/div%3E
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...
Read more
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.

Close full details
Share
  • Facebook
  • X
  • Pinterest
  • Tumblr
  • Email
Previous
|
Next
7446 
of  28197

London

48 Albemarle Street,

London, W1S 4JW

info@barakatgallery.eu 

 

       


 

CONTACT | TEAM | PRESS 

 

Seoul
58-4, Samcheong-ro,
Jongno-gu, Seoul
+82 02 730 1949
barakat@barakat.kr
             

 

Los Angeles

941 N La Cienega Blvd
Los Angeles CA 90069
+1 310 859 8408

contact@barakatgallery.com

  


 

 

Facebook, opens in a new tab.
Instagram, opens in a new tab.
Send an email
View on Google Maps
Manage cookies
Copyright © 2025 Barakat Gallery
Site by Artlogic


Manage cookies
Accept

Cookie preferences

Check the boxes for the cookie categories you allow our site to use

Cookie options
Required for the website to function and cannot be disabled.
Improve your experience on the website by storing choices you make about how it should function.
Allow us to collect anonymous usage data in order to improve the experience on our website.
Allow us to identify our visitors so that we can offer personalised, targeted marketing.
Save preferences
Close

Join our mailing list

Sign Up

* denotes required fields