HELLENISTIC, LATE 2ND-1ST CENTURY B.C.

Details

A GRAECO-EGYPTIAN TERRACOTTA HEAD OF A MIME ARTIST
HELLENISTIC, LATE 2ND-1ST CENTURY B.C.
With beak-like nose, exaggerated frown, raised eyebrows and puffed-out cheeks, the hair pulled back under a kerchief the ends of which are tied up at the back of the head, traces of red pigment, mounted
3½ in. (9 cm.) high

Provenance

Formerly in the Fouquet collection, acquired 1972.

Special notice

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Lot Essay

These performance actors did not wear masks but used gestures and facial expression to comic effect, cf. R. C. Beacham, The Roman Theatre and its Audience, Cambridge, Mass., 1992, p. 129 ff. For a Hellenistic terracotta Mime artist, cf. A Passion for Antiquities, Ancient Art from the Collection of Barbara and Lawrence Fleischman, The J. Paul Getty Museum, Malibu, 1994, no. 119; sold Christie's London, 11 July 1990, lot 239.

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