HELLENISTIC PERIOD, CIRCA 4TH-2ND CENTURY B.C.

Details

A GREEK MARBLE VEILED HEAD OF A GODDESS
HELLENISTIC PERIOD, CIRCA 4TH-2ND CENTURY B.C.
Turned slightly to her right, the torsion creating naturalistic contours along her neck, her oval face with wavy center-parted hair rolled back over a thin band and across her ears, her forehead peaked at the center, the brows gently arching, the almond-shaped eyes with thick lids, the thin undulating lips pressed lightly together, her chin somewhat pointed, the ears pierced, wearing a veil over the top of her head and falling along her long neck, the back of the head unfinished, perhaps to be completed in a secondary material or for placement within a niche
13¼ in. (33.7 cm.) high

Provenance

with C. Dikran Kelekian, Ancient Arts, New York, 1965.

Lot Essay

Related veiled female heads of similar style have been identified as depicting a goddess, such as Hera or Demeter (see for example the Demeter of Knidos in the British Museum, pl. 79 in Ridgway, Fourth-Century Styles in Greek Sculpture), but it is just as likely that they depict a mourner from a funerary monument (compare nos. 89-90 in Vermeule, Greek and Roman Sculpture in America).

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