Phoenicia, c. 5th - 4th BC. LIMESTONE FEMALE HEAD

Phoenicia, c. 5th - 4th Century BC. A lovely limestone head of a female, richly ornamented with and elaborate headdress, heavy gold earrings and a necklace. The headdress is composed of bands that extend from the forehead towards the back of the head, with raised circular lumps along the side, which could be jewels or stone, capped by spikes. This type of headdress very much resembles the type worn by the goddess of the city, or Tyche, but much more elaborate. The hair of the woman is exposed below the back of the "crown" and her facial features are very sensitively rendered, with some original pigmentation still remaining in some areas, especially the lips. H: 3 1/2" and mounted on a custom two-part wooden base with a silver plaque mounted to the front stating "Phoenician Head From Amrit (Syria), 4th Century BC". Amrit is the name for ancient Marathus in Phoenicia, a prolific maritime city having its' heyday in the later part of the 1st Millennium BC. A lovely piece of sculpture.