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Lot Essay
This impressive mask is sculptural in its three-dimensionality. Composed of hammered gold sheet, it contours to form the elongated face with a protruding, rounded chin, prominent curving cheeks, and raised stylized lips, seemingly intended to envelop most of an individual’s face. The form leaves an opening to expose the nose and eyes but includes a strap at the upper edge across the forehead, with short, thin curling strips attached perpendicularly to represent hair. A strip is also attached on the edge of each cheek, decorated in repoussé with eight-lobed stars or rosettes inside a border of alternating smaller rosettes and dots; this pattern is also repeated along the lower edge below the hair. The sides of the mask continue above the band of hair, suggesting that perhaps this was once secured to a now-missing headdress or cap and would have been intended to be hidden.
According to Herodotus (Histories, Book 5, Chapter 3), the Thracians were "the most numerous people in the world, after the Indians." Ancient Thrace comprises of most of present-day Bulgaria and parts of Greece, Romania and Turkey, and was composed of several ruling states, the most well-known being the Odrysians, Triballoi, Getai, Bessoi and Bithynians. Each king travelled his realms as the head of a great army and had not one central palace but many fortified citadels with stores, shelter for men and livestock, armaments, and most importantly, gold and silver smithing workshops. North of the Aegean, the Balkans and the Danube were known as gold producing lands and Thrace and its rulers were undoubtedly wealthy. The Odrysian king, according to Thucydides in 429 B.C., was "of all the European monarchies situated between the Ionian gulf and the Black Sea....the wealthiest in its revenues of silver and its prosperity in general." Whether mined or taken as spoils of war, the gold and precious metal available to the Thracians was renowned in the ancient world.
In Thracian art and culture, gold held immense importance: symbolizing power, divinity and the connection between rulers and the gods. Known for their exceptional metalworking skills, the Thracians produced intricate gold objects such as jewellery, ceremonial vessels, and funerary masks. These items often accompanied elite burials, and notable examples are from the Panagyurishte Treasure, a set of richly decorated gold rhyta and vessels now in the National Museum, Sofia, Bulgaria (see I. Venedikov, Thracian Treasures from Bulgaria, nos. 360-386).
Thracian gold funerary masks from the 5th and 4th centuries B.C. are remarkable examples of rich burial traditions. Usually crafted from thin sheets of gold, they were placed over the faces of deceased kings, nobles, and warriors to honour their status and ensure their passage to the afterlife. One of the most well-known examples is the gold mask in the National Archaeological Museum, Sofia, suggested to be the Odrysian king Teres I (see p. 184 in M.A. Sears, Athens, Thrace, and the Shaping of Athenian Leadership). Another mask exhibited at the Museum of History in 2011 as part of the exhibition Thrace and the Ancient World had a distinctive cut out area for the nose and eyes, similar to the present mask (see no. 39 in I. Marazov, Thrace and the Ancient World, Vassil Bojkov Collection). However, that example was highly decorated with realistically rendered facial hair and worked from delicate sheet gold.
Although this exceptional mask could have functioned as a funerary mask, it is unusual in the pared-back plain style and the solid weight of the gold, which might suggest another use. As per Thracian custom, it was the king who officiated many rites, sacrifices, and ceremonies. Perceived as an intermediary between the gods and his people, his authority was believed to be sanctioned by divine will, and in many ways, he embodied the union of religion and governance. It could be that this mask was worn on such occasions by a king or important official, with the cut-out area of nose and mouth further supporting the argument that this may have been a piece to be worn in life as much as in death.
There are stylistic similarities between the attached bands surrounding the face of the present mask and other decorative items of the period (see nos. 215-216 in Gold of the Thracian Horsemen for two breastplates with dots and rosettes). The stylized, pouting shape of the lips has parallels with the repoussé work found on the faces depicted on two greaves (see Ancient Gold: The Wealth of The Thracians, p. 39, fig. 6 and p. 159, no. 89).
According to Herodotus (Histories, Book 5, Chapter 3), the Thracians were "the most numerous people in the world, after the Indians." Ancient Thrace comprises of most of present-day Bulgaria and parts of Greece, Romania and Turkey, and was composed of several ruling states, the most well-known being the Odrysians, Triballoi, Getai, Bessoi and Bithynians. Each king travelled his realms as the head of a great army and had not one central palace but many fortified citadels with stores, shelter for men and livestock, armaments, and most importantly, gold and silver smithing workshops. North of the Aegean, the Balkans and the Danube were known as gold producing lands and Thrace and its rulers were undoubtedly wealthy. The Odrysian king, according to Thucydides in 429 B.C., was "of all the European monarchies situated between the Ionian gulf and the Black Sea....the wealthiest in its revenues of silver and its prosperity in general." Whether mined or taken as spoils of war, the gold and precious metal available to the Thracians was renowned in the ancient world.
In Thracian art and culture, gold held immense importance: symbolizing power, divinity and the connection between rulers and the gods. Known for their exceptional metalworking skills, the Thracians produced intricate gold objects such as jewellery, ceremonial vessels, and funerary masks. These items often accompanied elite burials, and notable examples are from the Panagyurishte Treasure, a set of richly decorated gold rhyta and vessels now in the National Museum, Sofia, Bulgaria (see I. Venedikov, Thracian Treasures from Bulgaria, nos. 360-386).
Thracian gold funerary masks from the 5th and 4th centuries B.C. are remarkable examples of rich burial traditions. Usually crafted from thin sheets of gold, they were placed over the faces of deceased kings, nobles, and warriors to honour their status and ensure their passage to the afterlife. One of the most well-known examples is the gold mask in the National Archaeological Museum, Sofia, suggested to be the Odrysian king Teres I (see p. 184 in M.A. Sears, Athens, Thrace, and the Shaping of Athenian Leadership). Another mask exhibited at the Museum of History in 2011 as part of the exhibition Thrace and the Ancient World had a distinctive cut out area for the nose and eyes, similar to the present mask (see no. 39 in I. Marazov, Thrace and the Ancient World, Vassil Bojkov Collection). However, that example was highly decorated with realistically rendered facial hair and worked from delicate sheet gold.
Although this exceptional mask could have functioned as a funerary mask, it is unusual in the pared-back plain style and the solid weight of the gold, which might suggest another use. As per Thracian custom, it was the king who officiated many rites, sacrifices, and ceremonies. Perceived as an intermediary between the gods and his people, his authority was believed to be sanctioned by divine will, and in many ways, he embodied the union of religion and governance. It could be that this mask was worn on such occasions by a king or important official, with the cut-out area of nose and mouth further supporting the argument that this may have been a piece to be worn in life as much as in death.
There are stylistic similarities between the attached bands surrounding the face of the present mask and other decorative items of the period (see nos. 215-216 in Gold of the Thracian Horsemen for two breastplates with dots and rosettes). The stylized, pouting shape of the lips has parallels with the repoussé work found on the faces depicted on two greaves (see Ancient Gold: The Wealth of The Thracians, p. 39, fig. 6 and p. 159, no. 89).