Lot Essay
The use of a foliate wreath around the head of male votary figures as seen here first appeared in Cypriot art in the second half of the sixth century B.C. and continued to be a dominant feature in Cypriot sculpture until the end of the Hellenistic period. A. Hermary and J. Mertens (p. 84, The Cesnola Collection of Cypriot Art) discuss how the appearance of the wreath at this time was both a “new way of expressing the piety of figures and their participation in cult activities” as well as “a reference to Aegean Greek models."