Rare statuette of callipyge Venus, hands resting on her bell - Lot 145

Rare statuette of callipyge Venus, hands resting on her belly, breasts drooping. Mammoth bone, feet and head missing, bears n°45 on the back. Ukraine, from Kostienki. Russia, Gravettian period, circa 22600 and 19700 B.C. Provenance: Ex. Drouot sale June 9, 1986, Number "L" Etude Neret-Minet. Length: 5.5cm In Russia, near the Kostienki region, prehistorians in the 19th century uncovered semi-underground settlements in the latest phase of this site, whose external structure was composed of mammoth bones and tusks. This settlement yielded a rare series of female figurines nicknamed Venus, the exact meaning of which is still unknown. Published in Historia 889, January 2021 P 63. Exhibited at the Musée Crozatier in Le Puy en Velay "Mammouth et Cie" in 2010.