ClassificationsGreek and Roman Art

Faceted Core

CultureCycladic

PeriodEarly Cycladic

Dateca. 3200-2700 BCE

MediumObsidian (Demengaki II, Melos)

Credit LineGift of Ward and Company

Dimensions1 7/8 x 4 1/4" (4.8 x 10.8 cm)

Object number2003.025.001

Label TextObsidian is a dense volcanic glass formed when rhyolite lava cools so quickly that crystals do not have time to grow. It is found in several parts of the Mediterranean basin, including the Greek island of Melos, which supplied the surrounding Cyclades and mainland Greece as early as 7500 BC. On account of its mineral structure, obsidian can be chipped to give long flakes or worked into arrowheads which are extremely sharp. These long blades were the Neolithic equivalent to the modern Swiss army knife. Besides sundry everyday uses, obsidian blades may have been used to achieve the incised decoration on marble sculpture; and to this day, obsidian chips are still used in the Cycladic islands on the underside of threshing sleds. Cores of this size may also have been used as pestles to grind pigments or to hollow out vessels. The care with which this core has been crafted into fifteen facets, giving it an almost sculptural quality, implies deliberate planning. It has been suggested that cores of this size may have been made specifically for grave use.
Exhibition HistoryMCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, September 2004 - September 2006
Ancient Art of the Cyclades, Katonah Museum of Art, Katonah, New York, October 2006 - July 2007
MCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, July 2007 - June 19, 2014
MCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, July 2014 - Present
Published ReferencesPat Getz-Gentle, Ancient Art of the Cyclades (Katonah, New York: Katonah Museum of Art, 2006), 60, catalogue 85.

ProvenanceEx coll. K.John Hewett (1919-1994), England. With Peter Sharrer, New Jersey, acquired from Hewett, London, England, by 1989. Loaned to San Antonio Museum of Art, San Antonio, Texas (L.89.1.15). Gifted to MCCM by Michael Ward [Ward & Company, Works of Art, Inc.], New York, New York.

Status

On view

Collections