The Lady from Čikat

Datation: first half of the 7th century BC
Dimensions: height: 10.4 cm; width: 6.6 cm; head diameter: 4.8 cm
Material: ceramics

The Lady from Čikat, the anthropomorphic figurine known as the Great Mother, was found around 1975 along the coastline of the area of Čikat (the west coast of Mali Lošinj); however, its archaeological context is unknown. The Lady from the Čikat is the unique find discovered on the territory of Iron Age cultures on the eastern coast of the Adriatic. It is considered a product of Etruscan workshops and their masters from the first half of the 7th century BC. It is extremely valuable because it bears witness to the then cultural and intermediary relationships that took place in overseas communications in the area of the northern Adriatic. However, although a unique specimen, its finding is actually not too much of a surprise, given that many directly imported items from Etruscan workshops have been found in Histria necropolis, especially Nesactium that was connected with the Kvarner area.
The body is presented as cylindrical, robust and rounded, formed in an extremely low relief. Its plasticity is emphasized by the contrast of light and shade on the smoothly elaborated transitions. The figurine is partly incomplete, since the lower extremities and the left ear are missing. Only the shoulders are protruding from the body, together with the emphasized hands and the oversized spherical head positioned on a short neck. The clearly modelled hands are placed to the fore directly and symmetrically across the chest. Although without the anatomical details, they have a specially modelled palm with massive and disproportionately represented fingers. The protruding frontal part of the head, created schematically in very low relief, is elevated on the portion of the lower jaw – on the spot where it is damaged the most. The nose is represented in low relief, while the lips are indicated only with incisions. On the frontal part of the head there is a shallow hollow, most probably associated with the realistic modelled hairstyle. The latter is presented as a single braid falling loose on the shoulders in a Y-shaped form and down to the mid-back where it is apparently broken off. The central line of the buttocks is indicated only in low relief as well.