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Female head

Italic, Etruscan
Classical or Early Hellenistic Period
about 400 B.C.

Medium/Technique Terracotta
Dimensions Height: 29.4 cm (11 9/16 in.)
Credit Line Everett Fund
Accession Number88.358
NOT ON VIEW
ClassificationsSculpture

DescriptionFemale head, worked fully in the round in pinkish-buff terracotta with remnants of white slip over the surface. Her wavy hair is parted in the center and adorned by an elaborate headband (diadem) of rosettes and points. Behind the diadem, the hair is indicated by uneven parallel strands. Heavy shield-shaped earrings lie flat on the ears. She wears a corded necklace with a tooth-shaped pendant on each side. Plaster (modern) has been added to the back of the neck for balance. From Cerveteri.
ProvenanceDecember 1885, discovered by Don Mariano Lazzari on the “Vignaccia” property of Francesco Rosati near Cerveteri, Italy, and sold, through Pietro Pennelli, to Rodolfo Lanciani (b. 1845 -d. 1929), Rome [see note 1]; 1888, sold by Lanciani to the MFA for $491.89 [see note 2]. (Accession date: May 1, 1888)

NOTES:
[1] As part of a votive deposit containing a few thousand objects, mostly terracottas, including anatomical votives, heads and busts wearing elaborate jewelry, animals, and a few singular finds (see L. Borsari, in Notizie degli scavi di antichità (1886), pp. 38-39, and American Journal of Archaeology 2.2 (1886), p. 218). Twelve objects from this deposit were eventually sold to the MFA (88.353-88.364). For a discussion of the discovery and MFA objects, see H. Nagy, in Etruscan Studies 11 (2008), pp. 101-119.
[2] This figure is the total price for MFA 88.345-88.530.