Description:
A terracotta head from the Greek colony Taranto (ancient Taras) in southern Italy, coming from a statuette of a banqueter. He has delicate facial features, a moustache and a long beard. He is wearing a diadem which keeps his centrally-parted hair from his face. On top of this he is wearing a headdress which originally must have been quite elaborate, with a high rising plume or palmette, and a rosette in the centre. This feature allows us to identify the man as a banqueter; depictions of the headdress of banqueters always show a central rosette attached to a plume, a lotus flower or a palmette, and in later phases an additional rosette could be added on either side of the head.
These heads belonged to statuettes showing a man reclining on a couch during a banquet (symposium); a clear example can be seen in the Ashmoleon Museum Oxford (inv.no. AN1910.768). Such statuettes were made and sold in shops near major sanctuaries. They were baked and brightly painted and then sold to customers who placed them in the precincts of the deities as acts of devotion. There were moulds for the reclining body and separate, differing moulds for all kinds of interchangeable heads, with and without beard and with differing styles of headdress, which could be further worked by coroplasts to add individual traits (Ashmead (1999), p. 52). These terracotta figures were usually made without a reverse and instead supported behind by vertical struts. The back of the heads were usually roughly formed, without any moulded details.
When over time the sanctuary became full, the excess of votive statuettes was removed by the priests, and buried in votive deposits nearby; usually they were deliberately broken to prevent reuse, which, apart from the fragility of the material, explains why almost all heads are damaged.
Various interpretations have been proposed for the reclining banqueter type. Scholars have identified him as Dionysos, because in their opinion the votive deposit belonged to the Sanctuary of Dionysos; therefore the symbolism is explained to be funerary: the funeral banquet. For the ideas of Dionysos being present during the symposium see Eckhardt (2017). The idea that these heads represent Dionysos himself is widespread, and can still be found in catalogues of dealers and auction houses.
More recently scholars separated the notions of a funerary banquet from banquets indicating status or hero worship. For these scholars the figurines were part of a cult which honoured a hero, such as Castor or Pollox, or Phalanthos, the hero-founder of Taras (Ashmead (1999), p. 52). Alternatively the head may represent the deceased as a hero. In any case it seems clear that these figures were connected to specific ritual and funerary practices.
For the theme and identification of the banqueter see Neutsch (1961), p. 150-163, pls. 62-72; Higgins (1969), p. 181; 336; Herdejürgen (1971), p. 26-33; Dentzer (1975) p. 190-201; Ashmead (1999), esp. p. 52-58. For an extensive bibliography on the subject of terracotta figures see Kassab (1985).
Literature:
Ann Harnwell Ashmead, Haverford College Collection of Classical Antiquities. The Bequest of Ernest Allen(Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Museum, 1999);
Jean-Marie Dentzer, Le motif du banquet couché dans le Proche-Orient et le monde grec du VIIe au IVe siècle avant J.-C. (Bibliothèque des Écoles françaises d'Athènes et de Rome, 246) (Rome, École française de Rome, 1982);
Benedikt Eckhardt, "Eating and Drinking (with) Dionysus", in David Hellholm and Dieter Sänger (eds.), The Eucharist – Its Origins and Contexts. Sacred Meal, Communal Meal, Table Fellowship in Late Antiquity, Early Judaism, and Early Christianity (Old Testament, Early Judaism, New Testament) (Tübingen, Mohr Siebeck, 2017), p. 1761-1777;
Helga Herdejürgen, Die Tarentinischen Terrakotten des 6. bis 4. Jahrhunderts v. Chr. im Antikenmuseum Basel (Veröffentlichungen des Antikenmuseums Basel, Band 2) (Basel, Archäologischer Verlag, 1971; in Kommission bei Philipp von Zabern, Mainz);
Reynold A. Higgins, Catalogue of the Terracottas (Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities), British Museum, Volume I (London, British Museum, 1969);
Dominique Kassab - Annick de Fenoyl - Pascale Ballet - Simone Besques, "Cinquante ans de découvertes et de travaux sur les figurines de terre cuite grecques et romaines", Revue Archéologique, Nouvelle Série 1 (1985), p. 77-114;
Bonnie M. Kingsley, "Coroplastic Workshops at Taras: Marked Moulds of the Late Classical Period", The J. Paul Getty Museum Journal, Vol. 9 (1981), p. 41-52;
Bernhard Neutsch, Der Heros auf der Kline. Zu einer großen Terrakottamatrize im Nationalmuseum von Tarent (Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Römische Abteilung, Band 68) (Heidelberg, F.H. Kerle Verlag, 1961).
Dating:
Circa 5th-4th century B.C.
Size:
Height 9.2 cm., height including stand 12.9 cm.
Provenance:
Swiss collection of Dr. M. Ebnöther (1920-2008), Sempach, acquired in the early 1970s; thereafter with Arteas Ltd., London and Paris.
Condition:
Fragment from a larger statuette, as shown, with some damage to the headdress; a very tiny spot of damage on the tip of the nose made good; some surface wear, pitting, scratches and encrustation as is common to ancient terracottas. A beautiful and expressive face.
Price:
€ 2,500
Stock number:
C1346