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LOT 1554
Stone Age South Downs Flint Spokeshave
NEOLITHIC PERIOD, CIRCA 4TH-3RD MILLENNIUM B.C.
3 1/8 in. (143 grams, 79 mm).
Finely polished flint axehead with broad curved edge; chipped and broken, probably re-used as a draw-knife or spokeshave using the exposed curved edges; old inked legend 'Nr. Beachy H[ead] / polished + broken / flint celt / 10.6.64'. [No Reserve]
ProvenanceFound Beachy Head, South Downs, Sussex, UK.
Acquired from Oxford, UK.
From the private collection of Kenneth Machin (1936-2020), Buckinghamshire, UK; with collection no.N165; his collection of antiquities and natural history was formed since 1948; thence by descent.
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AUCTIONS:
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Stone Age Blade and Scraper Tool Group
Mesolithic Period, circa 12,000-9,000 years B.P.Sold for (Inc. bp): £20
Comprising three microlith scrapers and worked block, with inked inscription 'Near Culverwell / Portland Bill, 1970's' (3) and 'Nr Culver Well'; old collector's ticket. 80 grams total, 26-55 mm
Found near Culver Well, Portland Bill, Dorset, UK, 1970s. Ex old English collection. From a Leicestershire, UK, collection. -
Large Stone Age Polished Kneeling Pregnant Goddess Idol
Neolithic Period, circa 6th-4th millennium B.C. or laterSold for (Inc. bp): £1,170
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. 1.07 kg total, 15.3 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.
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. -
Stone Age Shale Ovate Axehead
Neolithic-Early Bronze Age, circa 6000-4500 B.P.Sold for (Inc. bp): £65
Lentoid in section and ovate in plan, with rounded butt. 769 grams, 16.5 cm
From the private collection of Kenneth Machin (1936-2020), Buckinghamshire, UK; with collection no.IA27; his collection of antiquities and natural history was formed since 1948; thence by descent.
