Mold-made terracotta head of a youth
Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College

Mottled beige and dull red-orange terracotta is molded into the form of the face and neck of a youthful male. The back of his head and neck are left un-rendered, and a ridge extends around the edges of his neck and the top of his head. Individually molded locks of short hair frame his face as he stares forward. He has full lips, round cheeks, and his neck flares outward at the base. Some damage shows, with chips missing from the tip of the nose and the chin, and a large wedge broken off the right side, extending from the cheek to above the eye.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
2012.1.100
Title
Votive Head of a Youth
Classification
Sculpture
Work Type
head, sculpture
Date
4th-3rd century BCE
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Europe, Etruria
Period
Classical period, Late, to Early Hellenistic
Culture
Etruscan
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/57466

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Terracotta
Technique
Mold-made
Dimensions
11 x 9 x 7.4 cm (4 5/16 x 3 9/16 x 2 15/16 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
The Alice Corinne McDaniel Collection, Department of the Classics, Harvard University (before 1970-2012), transfer; to the Harvard Art Museums, 2012.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Transfer from the Alice Corinne McDaniel Collection, Department of the Classics, Harvard University
Accession Year
2012
Object Number
2012.1.100
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Descriptions

Description
Hollow terracotta votive head and neck of a youth. The head is frontal, showing a young man or child with short hair. The brow, eyes, nose, ears, mouth and chin are modeled naturalistically. A mantle covers the top and back of the head. The head is in good condition, with some chips around the edge of the mantle, a chipped chin, broken nose, and gouge on the right side of the face.

Publication History

  • John Crawford, Sidney Goldstein, George M. A. Hanfmann, John Kroll, Judith Lerner, Miranda Marvin, Charlotte Moore, and Duane Roller, Objects of Ancient Daily Life. A Catalogue of the Alice Corinne McDaniel Collection Belonging to the Department of the Classics, Harvard University, ed. Jane Waldbaum, Department of the Classics (unpublished manuscript, 1970), T8?, p. 37 [D. W. Roller]

Exhibition History

  • 32Q: 2540 Renaissance, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 07/18/2018 - 11/15/2018

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Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be 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