Expressive Roman Terracotta Actor's Mask of Female

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Fine Antiquities, Asian, Ethnographic Art

By Artemis Gallery

Oct 31, 2019

Set Reminder 2019-10-31 10:00:00 2019-10-31 10:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : Fine Antiquities, Asian, Ethnographic Art https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/artemis-gallery/fine-antiquities-asian-ethnographic-art-4581
Our Halloween Day auction features classical antiquities, ancient and ethnographic art from cultures encompassing the globe, plus fine art. Artemis Gallery info@artemisgallery.com

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• Lot Description
  Roman, Imperial Period, ca. 1st to 2nd century CE. A stunning actor's mask, skillfully mold-made, depicting a beautiful female visage with openwork eyes, an elegantly arched browline delineated above, a relatively naturalistic nose, a petite open mouth suggesting that the figure is perhaps speaking, chanting, or singing, and finely rendered facial contours with a cleft chin. Theatre masks worn by actors were made of fabric and painted, so that they were light and easy to remove, while terracotta masks like this one were more likely created to be hung on walls, as souvenirs of performances, or as votive dedicatory offerings to Bacchus (Greek Dionysus). Size: 6.125" W x 7.5" H (15.6 cm x 19 cm); 9.75" H (24.8 cm) on included custom stand.
  
  According to scholar Colette Hemingway, "Our interest in the theater connects us intimately with the ancient Greeks and Romans. Nearly every Greek and Roman city of note had an open-air theater, the seats arranged in tiers with a lovely view of the surrounding landscape. Here the Greeks sat and watched the plays first of Aeschylus, Sophokles, Euripides, and Aristophanes, and of Menander and the later playwrights." ("Theater in Ancient Greece" The Met Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, Metropolitan Museum of Art, October 2004)
  
  This type of terracotta mask was associated with the choruses of Greek drama and was often used as a votive offering dedicated by to shrines and/or graves by individuals who were linked to the theater - either as a known patron, participant, admirer of the arts, or reveler during Dionysiac festivals.
  
  Provenance: private East Coast, USA collection; ex-private Malibu, California, USA collection, 1990's
  
  All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back.
  
  A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids.
  
  We ship worldwide and handle all shipping in-house for your convenience.
  
  #149773

  Condition

  Repaired from about 5 large pieces with restoration over the break lines. Perforations at top and sides for suspension. Normal surface wear with chips, scuffs, and abrasions commensurate with age. Surface is covered with mineral deposits.
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