LOT 0272

Large Amlash Terracotta Idol

1ST MILLENNIUM B.C.

9 in. (386 grams total, 23 cm including stand).

Comprising a thin, extended neck developing into a largely unmarked face, represented only as a low-relief oval across its width; small arms folded into the chest emerging just beside two raised breasts; body curving inwards to suggest a feminine waist, before widening dramatically at the hips and buttocks; legs tapering gradually towards the base, with small marks delineating toes; mounted on a custom-made stand.

Dr Werner Alder, Carona, Switzerland, acquired in the 1960s.
Private collection M.R., Lugano, Switzerland.

Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D’Amato.
Accompanied by a thermoluminescence analysis report no.N126a11 from Oxford Authentication.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13015-246792.

Cf. Bailey, D.W., ‘The Figurines of Old Europe’, in Anthony, D.W.The Lost World of Old Europe, The Danube Valley, 5000-3500 BC, Princeton, 2010, item 18; for a similar but smaller prototype from Europe; Christie's, Paris Archeologie: Collection Pierre et Claude Verité auction sale 1063, December 20, 2011, lot 9; Lloyd, G., Terracotta fertility figurines of prehistoric Eurasian design from modern East Africa, 2013, figs.1.9,1.10.

The Amlash ceramics of Iron-Age Iran are named after a small modern town in the northern province of Gilan, just south of the Caspian Sea. Although the town is in close vicinity to Mesopotamia, the objects found there have a distinct local style, perhaps due to the natural boundaries of the Elburz and Zagros mountain ranges. The ceramic vessels and statuettes of both humans and animals from this region are by far the most important source we have on the Amlash culture of this period. Much of what has survived seems to have held spiritual or ritual functions, for example, votive idols and libation vessels. Human representations are generally found in burial sites and may therefore represent deities or specific individuals. These terracotta figurines, distinguished by their exaggerated, rounded hips and thighs, are believed to date from the late 2nd to early 1st millennium B.C. and are widely interpreted as fertility symbols or representations of a mother goddess.