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LOT 1498
Large Stone Age Polished Grey Stone Pierced Axehead
NEOLITHIC PERIOD, CIRCA 4TH-3RD MILLENNIUM B.C.
6 in. (1.16 kg, 15.2 cm).
With hammer-face to the butt, thick edge, scooped rims to the socket. [No Reserve]
ProvenanceFrom a collection acquired on the UK art market from various auction houses and collections mostly before 2000.
From an important Cambridgeshire estate; thence by descent.
Cf. MacGregor, A. (ed.), Antiquities from Europe and the Near East in the Collection of Lord MacAlpine of West Green, Oxford, 1987, item 4.166.
CONDITIONTimeLine Auctions follows a vetting process to ensure the authenticity and legality of all items, reinforcing our commitment to integrity and responsible trading. Each antiquity, antique, and coin lot undergoes thorough examination by a vetting committee of at least ten external specialists, professional trade association members, scientists, and archaeologists: Our Vetting Process
AUCTIONS:
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Stone Age Polished Axehead
Neolithic Period, circa 4th-3rd millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £104
Highly polished with broad convex cutting edge, body tapering to a narrow square butt. 288 grams, 11.8 cm
From a collection acquired on the UK art market from various auction houses and collections mostly before 2000. From an important Cambridgeshire estate; thence by descent. -
Stone Age Granite Donut-Shaped Macehead
Neolithic Period, 5th-3rd millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £182
Finely worked; with old collector's abel 'Ethnographical / 55-39 / collection'; possibly Tenerian culture. 322 grams, 80 mm
Acquired from a Buckingham, UK, collection. From the private collection of Kenneth Machin (1936-2020), Buckinghamshire, UK; with collection no.N181; his collection of antiquities and natural history was formed since 1948; thence by descent. -
Stone Age Polished Kneeling Goddess Idol
Neolithic Period, circa 6th-4th millennium B.C. or laterSold for (Inc. bp): £572
A carved and polished figurine with rounded head and broad shoulders, folded arms resting on each side of the protruding belly, legs folded beneath the body; mounted on a custom-made stand. 329 grams total, 99 mm including stand
From a collection acquired on the UK art market from various auction houses and collections mostly before 2000. From an important Cambridgeshire estate; thence by descent.
Most scholars consider these as symbols of the fertility cult and as evidence of the existence of a matriarchal society as a form of organisation of the earliest human society. The people of the Stone Age may have considered figures such as this to represent women and mothers with their life-giving powers, or as depictions of the ancestors.
