Magna Graecia, Apulia, Canosan Hellenistic Period, ca. 3rd century BCE. A fascinating and rare ceramic figure, dynamically posed, featuring a masked actor and a woman. They stand side by side, looking forward at the viewer. The actor's masked face is turned upward in a huge smile, with the large size of the mask contrasting with the woman's smaller face and slender frame. She is draped in a himation that flows over her body and appears to be blowing back around her legs, covering one of the actor's legs. The actor's other leg is slightly raised and bent at the knee. One of his hands wraps around the woman's waist, while the other is pressed to his chest in a seemingly dramatic gesture. The woman has one arm stretched outward, as if pointing towards something. Original white and pink pigment, with some hints of blue, remains on the surface. Size: 5.5" W x 7.35" H (14 cm x 18.7 cm)

Canosa was a wealthy city that only grew in importance after the Romans entered the area in the late 4th century BCE. Their ceramic workshops produced items that were exclusively used in funerary contexts, including many figures like this one. Although scholarly debate rages on the topic, it seems likely that the theatre inspired many of the scenes found on their tomb ceramics - implying that not just the very wealthy patronized the theatre in the Greek South Italic colonies, but that it was a form of pop culture enjoyed by a wide swath of society.

See similar Greek statues of actors from the same time period at the British Museum: http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=465241&partId=1&searchText=comic+heracles&page=1

Provenance: private East Coast, USA collection

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#138561

Leg and arm have been repaired and restored; restoration is well done and difficult to see. One of the woman's arms is lost. Nice remaining pigment and deposits on surface.