Celtic Art. Stone Head from Great Britain.

This large head carved in sandstone, dating from the 1st century BCE, is an excellent illustration of Celtic art from Great Britain. It is characterized by a stylized treatment of facial features, reflecting the major symbolic role of the head in Celtic culture, often associated with the head cult. The eyes are oval and shallow, giving the face an enigmatic character. This Celtic head is sculpted in the round. The nose and mouth are rendered in a simplified manner, with the teeth visible. The hair, depicted with broad vertical or oblique strokes, exemplifies the characteristic stylization of Celtic art, where abstraction and geometric forms prevail.

These representations served a votive, cultic, or commemorative function, linked to ritual practices and the veneration of ancestors. The head cult in the context of warfare was also attested by the Greeks Strabo and Diodorus of Sicily in the 1st century AD.
Related works:
· Girlington Head, SE 1334, Cartwright Hall Museum.
· Heaton Woods Head, SE1436, Private Collection.
References consulted:
· Pagan Celtic Britain, Dr. Anne Ross, 2005.
· Celtic and other stone heads, Sidney Jackson, 1973.