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CHRIS HOLMES ANTIQUES

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Email: [email protected]

https://www.decorativecollective.com/dealers/chris-holmes-antiques

Item Details

A rare Celtic stone head most likely pre-Roman with excellent provenance from a remarkable private English country house collection in North Yorkshire.


This incredible find was located at the site of a demolition of an ancient windmill near the Great North Road (later known as the A1). 


This rare and evocative piece , while worn, still retains it’s features. The mouth is slightly open and was probably used as a site to place offerings or libations. Typically of early Celtic heads it is not capped with hair, unlike later Romano Celtic examples.


The Celtic practice of head-hunting and collecting is well documented in contemporary accounts of the period. They were known to be infatuated with the cult of the head. It is thought that the cult beliefs revolved around the notion that the heads paid homage to the guardian god of portals, the deity of beginnings and endings. 
Even though we don’t entirely understand this practice, it is clear from evidence that Human decapitated heads were preserved in cedar oil and set into niches next to stone heads such as this.

  • Period: Celtic
    • Price: Above £5,000.00
    • Above €6,054 Euro
    • Above $6,347 US Dollar
  • Location: Yorkshire
    • Dimensions: H: 41cm (16.14in)
    • W: 23cm (9.06in)
    • D: 26cm (10.24in)