Cycladic Marble Idols and Goddesses

[Pierre Tavlitzki]

Just after the press release published by Sotheby's on April 8, I wrote:
The male Cycladic marble idol 30 cm high which Sotheby's will sell in New York on June 5 is inevitably an exceptional piece, because one usually does not advance an estimate of 1,2 M$ on this type of object. Let us wait for details.

The catalogue is now on line and our idol is lot 13, but besides the fact that the object is now visible I remain hungry of details, because contrary to the practices of the auction house there are no accurate historical or artistic details in the text.

The figure is male. Its attitude is modern, upright with the arms folded in front of him. The expression is serious, somebody who is not there to have fun, the legs are those of an athlete. 5000 years old, this statuette is much more realistic than the rudimentary Cycladic idols than one generally sees. It however leaves me rather marble (it is one!) compared to the pretty Sumerian orantes of the same time that one sees appearing sometimes on sale in Paris.

In the files of Sotheby's, one finds especially goddesses, in a very similar position. From 2003 to 2005, three female marble statuettes around 20 cm high were sold between 260 and 310 K$, one of their colleagues remaining below 220 K$ in 2006.

All these pieces appear complete, which because of the protected position of the arms mostly means that the legs are not broken.

Ours is thus the only man among all these females. It is largest, oldest and most expressive. Will this set of qualities push it four times higher than the most expensive of these ladies? Let me have some doubt.

[Pierre Tavlitzki]

The Cycladic idol was sold $ 1.3 million fees included, therefore it is around the low estimate .
This proves that Sotheby's has very well conducted this business.
This result will take place as a reference for this type of object.