Cycladic Twin Figure - CYID05700Τ1-20

Cycladic Twin Figure, showing a couple hugging.
Handmade carved Cycladic FIGURINE 2800–2700 B.C.

A majority of the figurines are female, depicted nude, and with arms folded across the stomach, typically with the right arm held below the left.

Most writers who have considered these artifacts from an anthropological or psychological viewpoint have assumed that they are representative of a Great Goddess of nature, in a tradition continuous with that of Neolithic female figures such as the Venus of Willendorf.

Although some archeologists would agree, this interpretation is not generally agreed on by archeologists, among whom there is no consensus on their significance.

They have been variously interpreted as idols of the gods, images of death, children's dolls, and other things.

One authority feels they were "more than dolls and probably less than sacrosanct idols."
Female Figure, ca. 3000 B.C.E. Brooklyn Museum
The collection of Cycladic antiquities is one of the most important in the world.

Cycladic civilization flourished on the islands of the central Aegean during the Early Bronze Age (3rd millennium BC).

The most characteristic creation of this culture is the marble sculpture and it is not surprising that the abstract forms of the figurines influenced artists of the 20th and 21st centuries, such as Brancusi, Modigliani, Giacometti, Hepworth, Moore and Ai Weiwei.
In addition to the numerous female figurines, Cycladic sculptors also produced a series of elegant compositions of "special form".

Among them are standing and seated males engaged in an activity (musicians, flute-players and lyre-players), seated females and groups of two or three figures.

Most of these works date from the early phase of the Early Cycladic II period.

The "cup-bearer' in the MCA is a rare type of seated figure and the only intact example of its kind to date.

Although the gender is not indicated, it is considered to represent a male figure because it is shown "in action".

The figure sits on an integral marble stool and holds a cup in its right hand, poised as if ready to propose a toast or perform a libation.

Specific morphological elements, such as the plasticity of the volumes and the parted legs, place the figurine among the early works of the "Spedos variety".

Works such as this depart from the immobility of the "canonical" female figurines and succeed in conveying movement, thus conquering, as it were, three-dimensional space, as well as a sense of time.

The use of most "special" figurines remains enigmatic, but the fact that certain types are reproduced suggests that they had a specific function, possibly as votive offerings or ritual objects.