Ancient Cypriot art
This range of art attests to the blend of both native and foreign influences of ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome as they successively occupied the country.
It was towards the end of the Neolithic period when people began to bake moulded clay into vessels which were frequently embellished with abstract designs in red on a light slip.
Examples of such art are that of female figurines formed from clay or stone—in particular the local stone picrolite—with prominent genitals which represented fertility as one of the crucial values of agrarian society at the time.
Profound changes caused by incoming coastal Asia Minor migrants and other intra-societal processes marked the beginning of the Early Bronze Age.
[6] Influences from the Near East, where metallurgy was highly developed, established standardised procedures of mining, extracting, and smelting of the rich copper ores found in Cyprus.
[5] Although Cypriot society was still rooted in agriculture, bronze-smiths began to manufacture unique ornaments and tools following personal techniques towards the end of Early Bronze Age.
By the end of the Bronze Age, Near Eastern and Aegean influences allowed for Cyprus to develop the art of engraving and carving to a large extent.
[5] During the Late Bronze Age, Cyprus was producing copper on a colossal scale and exporting it throughout the entire Eastern Mediterranean to be bartered for commodities and luxury goods.
The recent archaeological discovery off the Anatolian coast of ten tonnes of copper in a 14th-century BC shipwreck at Ulu Burun show the large scope of Cyprus’ seafaring commerce.
From c. 1500 BC, Cypriots commenced using an undecipherable Cypro-Minoan script adopted from Crete which gave them the means to manage records and inventories at a time when social organisation was becoming increasingly complex.
Upon excavations of rich burial grounds and 14th to 13th century BC urban centres like Enkomi, luxurious artefacts made from a range of materials have been discovered.
[1] Advancements in the political structure of society could be seen in the founding of ten kingdoms ruled by kings called wanaktes,[8] as evidenced in a 7th century BC inscription.
During the Cypro-Classical era, sculptures, jewellery, clothing, and other art forms began to take on many Hellenic elements as a result of increased affiliation with the Greeks who aided the Cypriots in their attempts to depose the Persians.
East Greek influences from the sixth century BC gave rise to freestanding Cypriot sculptures that exhibited common Hellenic features such as the subtle smile and forward left foot.
Although artistic elements of ancient Athens influenced Cypriot burial architecture and other art forms in the beginning, Egyptian styles ultimately superseded.
This inventory was amassed through personal investments and excavations by Luigi Palma di Cesnola who was an American consul based in Cyprus in 1865, before becoming the first director of the Metropolitan.
[11] In the early 20th century, the Metropolitan Museum of Art auctioned off a portion of its Cypriot collection, primarily consisting of duplicates or altered pieces.
