PTOLEMAIC PERIOD, CIRCA 1ST CENTURY B.C.

Details

AN EGYPTIAN MOSAIC GLASS MAENAD HEAD INLAY
PTOLEMAIC PERIOD, CIRCA 1ST CENTURY B.C.
The New Comedy theatrical mask made from two halves, opaque red curls, fringe and locks, the swirling part of the headdress in translucent green, with opaque light and dark green ivy leaves, opaque white face and translucent blue eyes, eyebrows, nose and mouth, in a semi-translucent cobalt blue matrix
1½ x 1 5/16 in. (3.8 x 3.4 cm.)

Provenance

The Groppi Collection, Switzerland; acquired in the 1920s-1940s.

Exhibited

Antikensmuseum Basel und Sammlung Ludwig und Museum August Kestner Hannover, Köstlichkeiten aus Kairo!, 2008, no. 23a.

Special notice

VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price and at 20% on the buyer's premium.

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Lot Essay

PUBLISHED:
Exhibition catalogue, Köstlichkeiten aus Kairo!, Antikensmuseum Basel und Sammlung Ludwig und Museum August Kestner Hannover, 2008, pp. 74-75, no. 23a.

Another head of a maenad can be found in the Miho Museum, Kyoto, cf. exhibition catalogue, Ancient Glass in the Miho Museum, 2001, p. 76, no. 100. This decorative element depicts a Greek theatrical mask and probably came from Alexandria. The New Attic Comedy involved characters linked with the cult of Dionysos, such as satyrs and maenads, who, adorned with ivy wreaths, roamed the countryside in a divine state of madness, dancing and playing music. The ivy was the plant of poetry, inspiration and ecstasy.

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