Marble female figure

Technical analysis: Ultraviolet-induced visible luminescence examination, optical microscopy


This small white marble figure is complete with a mended break at the base of the neck. It depicts a reclining female with a lightly arched back and bent knees. The lyre-shaped head is tilted back with a broad rounded chin, flat crown and long, aquiline nose in relief. The especially long, slender, upward tapering neck is separated from the chin by an incised line around the front that then takes a chevron shape at the nape. The bottom of the neck is delineated from the torso by another incised line that is v-shaped at the back. The shoulders are very broad and deeply sloping. Shallow grooves delineate the full upper arms that bend at the elbows and project at the sides. Three horizontal grooves define the forearms stacked left over right, below two symmetrically placed conical breasts and above a slight belly. There is no indication of hands or fingers. Incised lines below the belly and at the top of the thighs define the pubic triangle. A shallow incision at the vulva continues into the deep groove that delineates the co-joined legs. The arched feet, which are joined at the ankles, splay outward and have five toes each indicated by short shallow incisions. On the back, a single shallow groove indicates the spine and buttocks. It continues into a deeper groove that indicates the division of the legs to the feet.(1)


Calcareous accretions, some in the form of root marks, cover most of the yellow-brownish surface of the marble.


Sandy MacGillivray and J-F de Lapérouse


(1) Similar to Getz-Preziosi, Pat. 1987. Early Cycladic Art in North American Collections. p. 195, cat. no. 48, Richmond: Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.