4th-3rd millennium BC. A fine grained marble figure of a stylised female; flat, fan-shaped head with long prominent nose ridge; flat lozenge-shaped body, small breasts; incised lines for the arms, legs together defined by incised line; mounted on a custom-made support. 430 grams, 27cm including support (10 1/4"). Property of a London gentleman; acquired from a major Mayfair gallery; acquired on the London art market before 2000. Early Cycladic sculpture comprises predominantly female figures that range from simple modification of the stone to developed representations of the human form, some with natural proportions and some more idealised. Many of these figures, especially those of the Spedos type, display a remarkable consistency in form and proportion that suggests they were planned with a compass. Scientific analysis has shown that the surface of the marble was painted with mineral-based pigments-azurite for blue and iron ores, or cinnabar for red. The exact purpose of these figures is not known but their most likely function is as some sort of religious idol and the predominance of female figures, sometimes pregnant, suggests a fertility deity. Supporting this view is the fact that figurines have been found outside of a burial context at settlements on Melos, Kea and Thera. Alternatively, precisely because the majority of figures have been found in graves, perhaps they were guardians to, or representations of, the deceased.