LOT 0265

Rare Western Asiatic Three-Headed Kultepe Disc-Shaped Idol

3RD MILLENIUM B.C.

7 1/4 in. (573 grams, 18.3 cm).

With a flat ellipsoid body, three parallel elongated necks with triangular-shaped heads, each face with circular eyes and eyebrows; the body decorated with dotted circles and bands of herringbone lines; mounted on a custom-made stand.

Property of an European gentleman, acquired from the estate of a London collector.

This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.13551-263657.

See Öztürk, G., Representations of Religious Practice at Kültepe: Alabaster Idols of Early Bronze Age, in Kulakoğlu, F., Michel, C. (eds.), Proceedings of the 1st Kültepe International Meeting, Turnhout: Brepols, 2013, pp.155-170.

The group of artefacts known as the ‘Kültepe Type Idols’ that have been found during excavations have nearly all been unearthed in and around monumental religious structures and graves in this locality. They are often represented with multiple heads. Another group of idols that may share features with the Kültepe examples, such as triangular heads, is the eye idols, for example, from the site of Tell Brak in Syria. They are dated to the late 4th and early 3rd millennium B.C. These idols are made of alabaster and can have multiple heads, similar to the Kültepe idols.