Etruria, Italy
Circa 200 BC
Terracotta with Victorian sterling silver mount
Height: 2¼ in (5.7 cm), Width: 1½ in (3.8 cm)
Provenance: Christian Rub, Santa Barbara, California, before 1940
Etruscan votive deposits contained terracotta heads, figures, and anatomical objects produced in large quantities for sanctuary offerings from the fourth through first centuries BC. Votive heads of this type were mass-produced in molds and deposited at healing sanctuaries dedicated to Etruscan and later Roman deities, offered by worshippers seeking divine favor or giving thanks for cures received. The practice was widespread across Etruria and Latium, and surviving examples vary considerably in quality from refined to highly schematic depending on the workshop and context of production.
This small votive head retains its modeled facial features with reasonable clarity, and has been set in a Victorian twisted sterling silver mount that frames the terracotta as a pendant or display piece. The combination of an ancient votive object with a Victorian presentation mount reflects a nineteenth century collecting practice of repurposing ancient fragments as personal ornaments or cabinet curiosities, a tradition with its own art historical interest. The pre-1940 Santa Barbara provenance through Christian Rub gives this piece a clear and early American collecting history.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
Etruria, Italy
Circa 200 BC
Terracotta with Victorian sterling silver mount
Height: 2¼ in (5.7 cm), Width: 1½ in (3.8 cm)
Provenance: Christian Rub, Santa Barbara, California, before 1940
Etruscan votive deposits contained terracotta heads, figures, and anatomical objects produced in large quantities for sanctuary offerings from the fourth through first centuries BC. Votive heads of this type were mass-produced in molds and deposited at healing sanctuaries dedicated to Etruscan and later Roman deities, offered by worshippers seeking divine favor or giving thanks for cures received. The practice was widespread across Etruria and Latium, and surviving examples vary considerably in quality from refined to highly schematic depending on the workshop and context of production.
This small votive head retains its modeled facial features with reasonable clarity, and has been set in a Victorian twisted sterling silver mount that frames the terracotta as a pendant or display piece. The combination of an ancient votive object with a Victorian presentation mount reflects a nineteenth century collecting practice of repurposing ancient fragments as personal ornaments or cabinet curiosities, a tradition with its own art historical interest. The pre-1940 Santa Barbara provenance through Christian Rub gives this piece a clear and early American collecting history.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
