HELLENISTIC PERIOD, CIRCA 3RD CENTURY B.C.

Details

A CYPRIOT LIMESTONE HEAD OF ARTEMIS
HELLENISTIC PERIOD, CIRCA 3RD CENTURY B.C.
7 ¾ in. (19.7 cm.) high

Provenance

Said to be from the temple of Apollo at Pyla.
Luigi Palma di Cesnola (1832-1904), first director of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, acquired from the above between 1874-1876; deaccessioned circa 1920s.
Charles Noyes de Forest (1905-1929), New York; thence by descent.
Property from the Collection of Charles Noyes de Forest; Antiquities, Christie’s, New York, 6 December 2007, lot 144.

Literature

The Stone Sculptures of the Cesnola Collection of Cypriot Antiquities in Halls 14, 18, and 19, New York, 1904, pp. 61-62, no. 887.

Conditions of sale

Brought to you by

Hannah Fox Solomon Head of Department, Specialist

hsolomon@christies.com +1 212 636 2256

Lot Essay

The identification of this head as Artemis is confirmed by the inclusion of the quiver preserved over her proper right shoulder. For other depictions of the goddess also from Pyla and now in New York, see nos. 361-363 in A. Hermary and J.R. Mertens, The Cesnola Collection of Cypriot Art: Stone Sculpture.

Charles Noyes de Forest (1905-1929) was the son of Henry Wheeler de Forest (1855-1938), the chairman of the board of Southern Pacific Railroad from 1929-1932 and the president of the New York Botanical Garden from 1928-1937, and also the nephew of the famed painter, furniture and interior designer of the Aesthetic Movement, Lockwood de Forest (1850-1932). Charles embarked upon a trip around the world following his graduation from Yale; his life was cut short after falling ill in Palermo in 1929.

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