**Originally Listed At $3500**

Classical World, Italy, Etruria, Latium, ca. 480 BCE. A mold-formed terracotta antefix head of a female, perhaps a goddess. The well-rendered face features a protruding nose, a prominent chin, crossed eyes, and a wavy coiffure, all painted in red and dark brown atop the cream-hued ground. Above her head is a high stephane that traces back behind her ears, the front of which is finely decorated in alternating red and black stripes. Size: 3.75" L x 4.5" W x 5" H (9.5 cm x 11.4 cm x 12.7 cm); 7.25" H (18.4 cm) on included custom stand.

The ancient Etruscans used antefixes to protect and conceal the terracotta tiles along the eaves of a roof, as well as to serve an apotropaic function and ward off bad influences. Antefixes were mold-made and almost always in the form of a male or female head. Many of these were made in the workshops of Caere (Cerveteri) in southern Etruria.

Published: J. Eisenberg. "Art of the Ancient World," vol. XXIII (2012), no. 98.

Provenance: ex-Royal Athena Galleries, New York City, New York, USA; ex-Cahn Galleries, Basel, Switzerland, 2010; ex-Hans Tollmann collection, Cologne, Germany, acquired in the 1960s to 1970s

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#179537

This was part of a larger roof element at one time. Chips and abrasions to stephane, face, peripheries, and verso, with light fading to pigment, and minor earthen deposits, otherwise in excellent condition. Great preservation to facial details and pigment in most areas. Previous inventory label beneath display stand.