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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1964.9
Title
Satyr Mask
Classification
Sculpture
Work Type
mask, sculpture
Date
4th century BCE
Period
Classical period, Late, to Early Hellenistic
Culture
Etruscan
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/290289

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Terracotta
Dimensions
29 x 20 cm (11 7/16 x 7 7/8 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
December 1963 purchase from Munzen und Medaillen, AG, Basel, Switzerland.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, David M. Robinson Fund
Accession Year
1964
Object Number
1964.9
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Descriptions

Description
This satyr head, with a full moustache and beard, has a deeply furrowed brow, flaring and bulbous nostrils and thick rims around his eyes. The high-arching eyebrows spring from the bridge of the nose. The lips are full and the hair falls in curls down either side of the face. A pointed equine ear is preserved on the satyr's left side. Also surviving are two rosettes or berry clusters and a leaf fragment that probably formed part of the Dionysiac crown or "taenia."

The mask is made of pale, cream-colored clay, and is heavily weathered and abraded. A large part of the right side of the head is missing. Traces of white slip on both front and concave back side.

Publication History

  • John Oleson, "An Etruscan Satyr Mask in the Fogg Art Museum", Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, Harvard University Press (Cambridge, MA, 1972), Vol. 76, pp. 259-269, pp. 259-269, figs. 1-3

Verification Level

This record was created from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator; it may be inaccurate or incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu