Museum Collection — Keryn Evely

Museum Collection

This page provides the full background information for each print in Keryn Evely’s “Museum Collection” series. Each piece is inspired by an ancient artefact, and the descriptions below explain their archaeological context, symbolism, and the techniques used.

Statuette from Italy (4900–4700 BC)

This statuette was found in the Gaban Shelter near Trento in Italy, a Neolithic site thought to have been an important place of worship. It is made from a deer bone and decorated on both sides with a layer of white limestone, which acts as a base for an application of red ochre. The figure features a vulva with a sprouting plant — a tree of life motif linked with regeneration rituals for crops and the cycle of death and regeneration. At her neck there is a crescent shape, possibly a moon or bull horns, both also linked with cycles of death and regeneration. Depicted here using the drypoint technique.

Information mostly from www.preistoriainitalia. Also, Marija Gimbutas, Language of the Goddess (1989).

Figurine from Cucuteni (N.E. Romania)

Many such figurines have been found in the area where the Cucuteni Culture developed between the 6th and 3rd millennia BC. They are made from clay and painted or incised with spirals and striations. Marija Gimbutas interprets these as powerful symbols of the life force: opposed spirals, crescents and snake heads are intended to stimulate the process of becoming. The serpent symbolises renewal of nature, moving from death to life like the phases of the moon. Striations can indicate water, from which snakes and serpents emerge. Coiling and uncoiling spiral dances also represent this life force; one still known today is the Tsakonikos (The Crane Dance), mentioned by Plutarch and said to have been danced by Theseus on Delos.

The two-figure print (front and back) is a trace monoprint. The single figure (not a postcard) is a print taken from the rolled-out ink after the trace monoprint was taken.

Pot from Sicily (3500–3000 BC)

This ceramic pot found in the Chiusazza Cave, S.E. Sicily, has dark brown decoration on an orange background. It features many symbolic patterns: an hourglass (or double triangle) filled with net patterns accompanied by winding snakes. The hourglass shape made of two triangles is sometimes used to depict a figure. The net pattern has associations with water (water of life), and the snakes with rebirth and regeneration, or they could have calendrical significance (Gimbutas).

Depicted here as a viscosity print (to achieve two colours) from a drypoint image.

Three Cycladic Figurines

These three figures, made in and around the Cycladic Islands from approximately 3200–2300 BC, are stylistic representations of the female form carved from white marble. They share common features but differ in dimensions (between 10–30 cm high), proportions and degree of schematisation. They appear to have been made by shaping a thin slab of marble worked with emery — an abrasive found in Naxos, next in hardness to diamond. Mostly found in graves, suggesting funerary use. Marija Gimbutas attributes the light colour as symbolic of death.

This one-off print is a collagraph.

Information: M. Gimbutas, R. Higgins, Ashmolean Museum Guide.

Bird Figurine from Malta (c. 2500 BC)

This schematic clay bird (one of three) was found in the Tarxien cemetery in Malta. Approximately 23 cm high, all three birds have flat disc-shaped bodies with human legs and incised patterns using chevrons, and striated or network-patterned bands. The other side of the bird depicted here has a chequerboard motif with alternating plain and striated squares. These patterns are found on bird sculptures from the Upper Palaeolithic. The V-shape is a graphic representation of the pubic triangle, and along with the chevrons, represents the bird’s divine generative function (Gimbutas).

Depicted here as a drypoint print.

Libation Vessel from Mallia, Crete (c. 2300 BC)

This vessel (16.4 cm high), characteristic of the Early Minoan Period, was excavated from a Cretan cemetery at Mallia. It features a large-eyed, beaked face and appears winged, associated with the Bird Goddess. The figure has nipples that act as spouts for the vessel’s contents. The painted bands of zigzags, meanders and parallel lines relate to streams of milk flowing out, associated with watery themes and waterbirds (Gimbutas).

Depicted here as a linocut over a printed background colour.

Bee Pendant from Crete (1800–1600 BC)

This gold pendant, measuring just 4.6 cm from wing tip to wing tip, was found in the funerary complex at Mallia. The design features the metalworking skills of granulation and filigree. Two bees are arranged either side of a disc (covered in tiny gold beads of granulation) thought to represent a honeycomb. Above them is a filigree cage with a loose gold bead inside and a loop for suspension. A long association of bees and beekeeping by the Minoans is documented in Linear A hieroglyphs; honey fermented into mead was used in their new year (summer solstice) rituals. There is also a symbolic association between bulls, bees and regeneration (Baring and Cashford).

Depicted here as a linocut over a screen-printed background.

Information: Sinclair Hood, The Arts in Prehistoric Greece (1978).

Trio of Goddesses (Mycenaean, 15C–12C BC)

Likely influenced by Cretan goddesses, these terracotta figurines were made by Mycenaeans between the 15th and 12th centuries BC. The three poses are named after the Greek letters they resemble: Phi, Psi and Tau. They range from 10–20 cm in height and were placed in sanctuaries as votives, or found in tombs (often associated with child burials, possibly as toys or protective goddesses).

Depicted here as a collage of acrylic paintings.

Information: Reynold Higgins, Minoan and Mycenaean Art (1981); Sinclair Hood, The Arts in Prehistoric Greece (1978).

Poppy Seed Goddess from Crete (c. 1350 BC)

A female deity often invoked in Bronze-Age Crete, this example with poppy seeds in her headdress was found at Gazi, near Knossos. She dates from after the collapse of the palaces (c. 1350 BC). Made from terracotta and standing 79 cm tall, her base (skirt) is a wheel-thrown cylinder while the upper body is modelled in pieces by hand or mould. Most figures have their hands in the raised gesture — indicative of greeting, blessing or praying, and also the epiphany gesture of the goddess. The poppy seedpods are slashed in the way they still are today to extract opium, which was likely widely grown in Crete and used in shrines and temples to elicit visionary experiences or in healing.

Depicted here as a print.

Information: S. Hood, R. Higgins, J. Baring and A. Cashford. Also D. Evely (email correspondence).

Reference Books

  • Ashmolean Museum Souvenir Guide
  • Baring, A. and Cashford, J. — The Myth of the Goddess (1991)
  • Garfinkel, Y. — Dancing at the Dawn of Agriculture (2003)
  • Gimbutas, M. — The Language of the Goddess (1989)
  • Higgins, R. — Minoan and Mycenaean Art (1981)
  • Hood, S. — The Arts in Prehistoric Greece (1978)
  • Sakellaris, J. A. — Herakleion Museum Guide (1978)
  • Shannon, L. — various articles on academia.edu