Bust of a Maenad

Place of OriginAncient Greek (Hellenistic Period)

Date3rd-2nd century B.C.E.

Dimensions16 × 14 1/2 × 7 in. (40.6 × 36.8 × 17.8 cm)

MediumOrange-red clay; fired earthenware

ClassificationSculpture

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey, by exchange

Object number

2009.1

Not on View

DescriptionBust of a woman, with head turned to her right. She wears a chiton (thin under tunic) fasterned with a bow on her right shoulder, and a himation (cloak) drawn up over the back of her head. Her long hair is combed to the sides from a center part and covered with a wreath of ivy leaves and berries, the ribbon ends of which fall down the sides of her neck. There are three circular vent holes, one in the back of the head and one below each shoulder.

Published ReferencesAntiquities, sale no. 8500, Sotheby's, New York, 10 December 2008, p. 80, lot 53. Antiquities, Sotheby's, London, 12 July 1971, pp. 34-35, lot 88 (noted in the catalogue, "This lot is sold with a thermoluminescence certificate verifying is authenticity." According to the Price List, the bust was purchased by "W. Redford" for £540 - US$1,296] Cf. Alain Pasquier et al., Tanagra: Mythe et archeologie, exhibition catalogue, Musée du Louvre (Paris 2003). Cf. Reynold A. Higgins, Greek Terracottas (London: Methuen, 1967). Simone Mollard-Besques, Les terres cuites grecques (Paris, 1963). Reynold A. Higgins, Catalogue of the Terracottas in the Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities, British Museum, Volume I: Greek: 730-330 B.C. (London: British Museum, 1954) Dorothy Burr, Terracottas from Myrina in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (Vienna, 1934). Gustave Mendel, Catalogue des figurines grecques de terre cuite, Musées impériaux ottomans (Constantinople, 1908). Cf. T. Wiegand, H. Schrader, Priene, Ergebnisse der Ausgrabungen u. Untersuchungen in den Jahren 1895-1898 (Berlin, 1904). H. B. Walters, Catalogue of the Terracottas in the Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities, British Museum (London: British Museum, 1903).