Greek Terracotta Head of a Goddess

4TH-3RD CENTURY B.C.

3 in. (41.3 grams total, 75 mm high including stand).

With a delicately modelled face and full lips, hooped earrings visible from beneath her hair; the hair with central parting and pulled to a chignon at the nape of the neck; wearing a diadem with central embellishment; mounted on a custom-made display stand.

Provenance

Ex French Sorbonne archaeology professor (deceased); 1960s -2000s.

Literature

Cf. Summerer, L., Hellenistische Terrakotten aus Amisos: ein Beitrag zur Kunstgeschichte des Pontosgebietes, Stuttgart, 1999, figs.S II, 15,S; for a similar head of a dancer from Amisos see Louvre CA 1876.

Footnotes

These figurines were most probably manufactured in Hellenistic cities by craftsmen who used either light yellow or dark brown clay. After the firing, the surface of the clay became reddish, while the core became grey-brown. The majority of the figurines were made from untreated clay with many impurities, such as coarse grain. Due to the quality of the clay the surface of the figurines was often rugged, despite the retouch, but were painted with vivid colours.

CONDITION

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LOT 0503