Loading, please wait...
LOT 0544
Greek Terracotta Protome Mask
LATE 6TH-EARLY 5TH CENTURY B.C.
4 3/4 in. (130 grams, 12 cm).
Modelled as a female head with rounded oval face, slightly bulging eyes and pronounced chin, indistinct smiling mouth with thin lips, outline of ears; low straight polos with fastening hole. [No Reserve]
ProvenanceAcquired 1970s-1996.
Property of a North American collector.
London collection, 2016.
Cf. Van Rooijen, G., Goddesses of Akragas, a study of terracotta votive figurines from Sicily, Leiden, 2021, no.163, for similar.
FootnotesThe figure belongs to a common type known from mainland Greece and the islands. The head clearly shows the so-called 'Archaic smile' visible on the dedicatory protomes of the same typology. They were terracotta votive offerings attached with a nail to the shrine of a goddess for ex-voto or to receive the grace of the represented goddess (Demeter?).
CONDITIONTimeLine Auctions follows a vetting process to ensure the authenticity and legality of all items, reinforcing our commitment to integrity and responsible trading. Each antiquity, antique, and coin lot undergoes thorough examination by a vetting committee of at least ten external specialists, professional trade association members, scientists, and archaeologists: Our Vetting Process
AUCTIONS:
TimeLine is a leading auction house specialising in antiquities, ancient art, collectables, natural history, coins, medals, and books. Our auctions offer museums, collectors, historians, and enthusiasts the opportunity to acquire unique and historically significant pieces.
-
Villanovan Terracotta Kyathos with Zoomorphic Handle
Circa 7th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £312
Small impasto kyathos with carinated profile, basal ring, zoomorphic handle with spurs above. 113 grams, 10 cm wide
Belgium (Uccle) – Haynault Ventes Publiques, Collectibles Auction, 21 September 2021, lot 15. Property of a South Australian private collector, with collection reference 21.100. Accompanied by a detailed collector's catalogue page including description and photograph.
Villanovan culture is often regarded as the earliest phase of Etruscan civilisation in the Iron Age. -
Cypriot Painted Terracotta Amphora
Circa 8th-5th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £169
In black-painted geometric buffware, with wide bands of black painted decoration on the ovoid body and on the rim, loop handles. 164 grams, 11.8 cm wide
Ex P.A., Hertfordshire, UK, specialist collection of Greek art, 1980-1990s. Accompanied by a copy of an old typed catalogue slip.
The type is well known on Cyprus from 850 B.C. The simplification of the geometric ornaments in panels on the neck and shoulder suggest that the present specimen is later than the Geometric Period. -
Etruscan Buffware Aryballos
8th-7th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £169
With a piriform body and narrow foot, deep shoulder and flange rim, strap handle to the rear; the rim and shoulder with radiating strokes, concentric bands to the body and foot, frieze of stylised running hounds below the shoulder. 34 grams, 63 mm high
Acquired 1980-1990s. From the private collection of H.N., Milton Keynes, Bedfordshire, UK.
Proto-Corinthian aryballoi of the same type, probably of Etruscan manufacture, in buff-ware decorated with dark metallic, purple-maroon and red-brown bands have been found in the Veii excavations. John Boardman noted that the shape in Corinth barely survives the 7th century, but these small pots are still found in Etruscan graves of the first half, or at least the first quarter, of the 6th century B.C.
