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LOT 1486
Stone Age Knapped Grey Flint Pick
MESOLITHIC PERIOD, CIRCA 5000 B.C.
7 in. (375 grams, 18 cm).
Triangular in section with straight cutting edge, pointed butt. [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. similar tool in MacGregor, A. (ed.), Antiquities from Europe and the Near East in the Collection of Lord MacAlpine of West Green, Oxford, 1987, item 3.1, for type.
FootnotesThese objects were produced by the hunting and gathering groups living in Europe during the early phases of the present interglacial period. The piece seems to be a core axe of Thames pick type, with pointed butt and rounded cutting edge. Core tools, now hafted, were used for woodworking in an environment now increasingly forested.
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 Terracotta Idol
Neolithic Period, 4th-3rd millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £351
Discoid in plan with indented eyes. 213 grams, 98 mm
Acquired in the mid 1980s-1990s. Private collection, Switzerland, thence by descent. Private collection, since the late 1990s. -
Stone Age Taillebourg Flint Handaxe
Lower Palaeolithic Period, 450,000-280,000 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £117
Irregular triangular profile with broad cutting edge. 582 grams, 18 cm
Found Taillebourg, Charente, France. Ex Victor Brox collection, UK, formed during the 1980s-1990s. From the collection of a South West London, UK, specialist Stone Age collector. -
Large Stone Age Standing Goddess Idol
Neolithic Period, circa 6th-4th millennium B.C. or laterSold for (Inc. bp): £4,160
Tall with rounded profile, stub arms and head without facial detailing, vestigial legs; accompanied by a custom-made display stand. 1.04 kg total, 23 cm high 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. Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D’Amato. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.12352-223252.
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.
