A SICILIAN POLYCHROME POTTERY PLAQUE

The plaque depicts a head of Medusa, wearing a pendant necklace with three concentric rows of scales, increasing in size from top to bottom. There are two holes on the head for suspension. Similar plaques can be assigned to a well-known production from Centuripe, Sicily. They had an apotropaic function and served as oscilla, offerings meant to swing in the wind, and may have derived from metal prototypes. For a similar plaque, see no. 59, pp. 206-207, in M. L. Ferruzza, Ancient Terracottas from South Italy and Sicily in the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, 2016.