84 - A TERRACOTTA HEAD OF A GREEK NOBLE WOMAN, SECOND HALF OF THE 4TH CENTURY BC

A TERRACOTTA HEAD OF A GREEK NOBLE WOMAN, SECOND HALF OF THE 4TH CENTURY BC Southern Italy, probably Sicily. Finely modeled, the youthful female head rising from a powerfully rendered neck marked by two incised horizontal folds, whose face is distinguished by almond-shaped eyes beneath softly arched brows, a slender nose flanked by fleshy cheeks, and full lips forming a restrained smile. The visage framed by long hair arranged in vigorously modeled wavy locks, from which the pierced ears emerge at either side. A large opening is preserved at the top of the head, with a smaller circular vent at the back. Provenance: Collection of Nicolas Koutoulakis, Switzerland, acquired between 1939-1994. Thereafter in a private collection in Vienna, Austria. Nicolas Koutoulakis (1910-1996) was a prominent antiquities dealer and collector active primarily in Paris and Geneva during the second half of the twentieth century. His uncle, Manolis Segredakis, was a Cretan antiquities dealer who founded a gallery in Paris. Following his death in the late 1940s, Koutoulakis took over the business and, in the words of Pat Getz-Gentle, a leading scholar of Early Cycladic art, ‘soon became the preeminent purveyor of Cycladic objects’. He operated from both the Paris gallery and a residence in Geneva, dealing broadly in antiquities from across the ancient Mediterranean and Near East, including Greek, Etruscan, Roman, Egyptian, Minoan, and Near Eastern works. Objects from his collection and dealership subsequently entered major public and private collections through sale and donation. Condition: Good condition with expected wear, firing irregularities, signs of prolonged burial, obvious losses, the nose possibly repaired, old fills, remnants of pigments, encrustations, and minor chips. Weight: 1.3 kg Dimensions: Height 20.9 cm This type of votive head is generally associated with either the goddess Demeter or the youthful Persephone, frequently depicted with her hair arranged in flowing locks and surmounted by a polos, a cylindrical headdress frequently employed in Greek iconography as a marker of female divinity. Such figures were originally adorned with earrings, as indicated by the pierced earlobes, and were often embellished with painted and gilded details before being dedicated as votive offerings in sanctuaries. Female heads and busts of this type are widely attested at the principal centers of ancient Sicily, where Demeter and Persephone ranked among the most prominent tutelary deities of the island. Literature comparison: Compare a closely related Greek terracotta head of a woman, Sicily, dated 350-300 BC, 28.8 cm high, in the Getty Museum, object number 76.AD.34. Compare a related Greek terracotta pair of female busts, Sicily, dated to the 4th century BC, 47.2 cm high, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, object number 1994.600.1, .2. Auction result comparison: Type: Closely related Auction: Christie’s London, 25 October 2006, lot 99 Price: GBP 3,600 or approx. EUR 7,400 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing Description: A large West Greek terracotta female head, early 4th century BC Expert remark: Compare the closely related subject and modeling. Note the polos and, consequently, larger size (30.5 cm).