A CYPRIOT LIMESTONE HEAD OF A VOTARY

CYPRO-ARCHAIC PERIOD, CIRCA LATE 6TH - EARLY 5TH CENTURY B.C.

Details

A CYPRIOT LIMESTONE HEAD OF A VOTARY
CYPRO-ARCHAIC PERIOD, CIRCA LATE 6TH - EARLY 5TH CENTURY B.C.
Wearing a smooth wig adorned by a wreath of pointed leaves, with a row of nine spiral curls along the forehead, each coiled to the left, the oval face with pronounced ears, prominent nose and pointed chin, the convex almond-shaped eyes obliquely arranged, with raised lids and short cosmetic lines extending from the outer corners, the brows slightly modelled and incised, the lips pursed into a smile, the back of the head flat
8¼ in. (21 cm.) high

Provenance

Said to be from the Temple at Golgoi.
Luigi Palma di Cesnola.
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (deaccessed 1928).

Literature

L.P. di Cesnola, A Descriptive Atlas of the Cesnola Collection of Cypriote Antiquities in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, vol. I, Boston, 1885, pl. 71.
V. Karageorghis, Ancient Art from Cyprus, The Cesnola Collection in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2000, p. 2 (visible to the left in the photo).

Exhibited

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1873 - 1928.

Lot Essay

Cypriot votaries of the 6th and 5th centuries B.C. are commonly depicted wearing wreaths of leaves, not easily identified but usually thought to be either myrtle, laurel or ivy. According to Karageorghis (op. cit., p. 184) the wearing of such wreaths suggests association with a divinity, such as Aphrodite or Apollo, in whose sanctuaries these votive statues were dedicated.

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