Classical World, Etruria, central Italy, ca. 600 to 400 BCE. A fascinating architectural antefix, made from a coarse, red terracotta, and painted with bright colors to form a face. Pale, with heavy black brows, black-outlined eyes, and a black goatee and hairline, the face is arresting, its ears and mouth painted red and with a white and red headdress. The Etruscans used antefixes to protect and conceal the terracotta tiles along the eaves of a roof, as well as to serve an apotropaic function, warding off bad influences. These were mold-made and almost always in the form of a male or female head. Many of these were made in the workshops at Caere (Cerveteri) in southern Etruria. Size: 7.2" W x 6.8" H (18.3 cm x 17.3 cm); 8.75" H (22.2 cm) on included custom stand.

See a similar example at the Louvre: http://www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/antefix-female-head

Provenance: private New York, USA collection; ex private Paris, France collection

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#127143

Loss to nose and to attachment area on back of head. Very nice preserved pigment.