Anatolian marble idols from the Chalcolithic period c.3000-2200 BC are interchangeably referred to as ‘Kiliya type’ and stargazers.
Kiliya refers to the town on the Gallipoli peninsula where the first published example was discovered, with ‘stargazer’ the colloquial title derived from the angle at which the massive head rests on the slender neck. Like their ‘cousins’ from Cycladic Greece – another form so influential in the Modern art movement – the original function of the idols remains a mystery.
Most of the 15 or so known complete examples – including the Guennol Stargazer pictured right – have been broken across the neck, suggesting that the sculptures were ritually ‘killed’ at the time of burial. The last example to appear at auction, the 8in (20cm) Schuster Stargazer, sold at Christie’s New York in June 2005 for $1.8m.