Ancient Greece, Hellenistic, ca. 323 to 31 CE. A fabulous mold-pressed terracotta roundel depicting a bust of a Medusa in low to high relief - her carefully modeled head in high relief - her face presenting delicate features in low relief and crowned by a centrally parted wavy coiffure made of snakes with harpy wings emerging in high relief atop, a torque and tied scarf around her neck and surrounded by scale armor. Nice original white and red (on the lips) pigment still remains. Size: 7.25" in diameter (18.4 cm); 8.5" H (21.6 cm) on included custom stand.
Medusa was the most famous of the three gorgons, human women with venomous snakes for hair. The concept of the gorgon, a frightening, beast-like, female creature, is at least as old as Homer and continued to be used as a monstrous symbol throughout the Roman period, especially popular as decoration on pottery. Here she is depicted as more beautiful than usual, with large, striking eyes that stare straight forward as you gaze upon her and her murderous locks.
For two stylistically-similar examples, please see "Our Collective Past: A Selection of Objects from Antiquity." Fortuna Fine Arts, Ltd., New York, 2006, fig. 8.
Provenance: private East Coast, USA collection; ex-private W. collection, Switzerland, acquired in the 1980s
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#146923
Condition
Repaired from 5 pieces. Wings reattached. Expected surface wear with loss to pigmentation, though a nice amount of original pigment has survived. Areas of encrustation as shown. Two perforations atop head perhaps for ornaments.