Description:
A large reddish brown hollow head, made from finegrained clay which is rather hard, indicating that the piece was more highly fired than most other terracottas. The surface is partially covered with traces of white slip and red and black ochre.
Depicted is a goddess, wearing a high crown, elaborately decorated in relief with rows of dentils, flower patterns and circles. It is this high crown which marks this figure as a goddess. She has a slim and quite elongated face with calm and soft facial expression. She wears a stephane (diadem) and veil, with large earrings under the waves of her veil, and triangular projections at the top.
The surface at the bottom of the head indicates that this figure was originally composed of two parts, a front and a back, with obvious seams at the sides. The front piece is curved and elaborately detailed. It is mould-made whereas the back half seems to be hand-made. The is a small vent hole at the back.
For similar statuettes with a high crown see for example Ohnefalsch-Richter, Textband, p. 326, figs. 233-234; Tafelband, pls. CCVII, CCIX-CCXI; Schürmann, p. 150; pl. 519, fig. 2.
Exhibited:
Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, (1926-2014);
American University Museum, Washington, DC (2014 - 2021).
Published:
Collection Collin (1911), p. 1, no. 6;
Original Clark Catalog, no. 6, p. 234, part 2;
Illustrated Handbook (1928), p. 99, no. 2509;
Illustrated Handbook (1932), p. 105, no. 2509 (there incorrectly indicated as 6 1/4 inch high);
McCarran (1947), p. 21-24; Plate l, fig. 3 (we have not been able to verify this);
McGovern-Huffman, p. 100.
Bibliography:
Illustrated Handbook of the W.A. Clark Collection (Washington, DC, The Corcoran Gallery of Art, 1928);
Illustrated Handbook of the W.A. Clark Collection (Washington, DC, The Corcoran Gallery of Art, 1932);
Collection of Antique Grecian, Egyptian, and Etruscan Statuettes, Vases, Tanagras, etc., made by Raphaël Collin, of Paris, France (1911);
Mary Mercy McCarran, A Study of a Group of Greek Terracottas in the Corcoran Museum at Washington, D.C. (Dissertation, Catholic University of America, 1947);
Sue McGovern-Huffman, The Senator William A. Clark Collecion of Ancient Art (Washington, DC, Sands of Time Ancient Art, 2022);
Max Ohnefalsch-Richter, Kypros, die Bibel und Homer. Beiträge zur Cultur-, Kunst- und Religionsgeschichte des Orients im Alterthume, mit besonderer Berücksichtigung eigener zwölfjähriger Forschungen und Ausgrabungen auf der Insel Cypern (Berlin, Asher, 1893);
Wolfgang Schürmann, Katalog der antiken Terrakotten Im Badischen Landesmuseum Karlsruhe (Studies in Mediterranean Archaeology, 84) (Göteborg, Paul Åström Förlag, 1989).
Dating:
Cyprus, Larnaca Area, circa 6th - 5th century B.C. (according to internal notes of the Corcoran Gallery this was amended by McCarran in her 1947 dissertation (p. 24) to 325-270 B.C.)
Size:
Height circa 12 cm excluding stand, 20.5 cm with stand.
Provenance:
Collection of Louis-Joseph-Raphaël Collin (1850 – 1916), a French painter who assembled his collection with the assistance of experts from the Louvre Museum, Paris, between 1890 and 1910;
thence collection of the American politician Senator William Andrews Clark Sr. (1839 - 1925), bought from the above;
thence collection of the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington DC (1926 - 2014), received as a bequest from the above;
thence collection of the American University Museum, Washington DC (2014 - 2021), received as a gift from the trustees of the Corcoran Gallery;
thence with Sands of Time Gallery, Washington DC.
Condition:
Very good condition, with no visible repairs or restoration materials; fragment from a larger statue, with minor losses to the crown and sides; a small shrinkage crack under the chin. Crisp details.
Old labels at the back and underneath with one line that is illegible plus "Larnaca, Chypre, 6", possibly from the Collin collection as the name of the country is in French. Comes with a bespoke stand.
The piece has been professionally treated in 2001 by a conservator for the Corcoran Gallery of Art, to remove accumulations of museum dust and grime.
Price:
€ 7,500
Stock number:
C1357