Two Idols (Vinca)
Terracotta
Neolithic, Serbian
circa 5th - 4th millennium B.C.
Heights: 2 5/8 inches (6.6 cm), 2 5/8 inches (6.6 cm)
The Danubian plains of the former Yugoslavia were home to a prehistoric people collectively named after Vinca, a Serbian archeological site where many objects in the style of these little figures are found. Many of these terracotta statuettes have bird or cat-shaped faces, possibly representing human figures wearing animal masks. Others are more human, but not quite so, and emit a strangeness suggestive of a distant supernatural world. Clay was the medium favored above all others and was used it to great expressive effect. Vincan art has a three dimensional abstraction reminiscent of certain African tribal works.
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