Greek Terracotta Antefix: Maenad

An ancient Greek terracotta antefix in the form of the face of a Maenad, with eyes wide open, lips parted and flowing hair.

Ca. 4th century BC.
Height: 6 3/4 in. (17 cm).

Antefixes were ornamental pottery caps that covered the open ends left by semi-cylindrical tiles at the edge of a temple roofs. They were often adorned with apotropaic images like Gorgons and Satyrs. Maenads (also Bacchantes) were the frenzied female members of the retinue of Dionysos, the Greek god of wine and revelry (Roman: Bacchus). Maenads, literally “the raving ones,” were often depicted in Greek art as wild and ecstatic women who indulged in sex, violence, and intoxication.

Formerly in the collection of Artemis A. W. Joukowsky (1930-2020) and Dr. Martha Sharp Joukowsky, president of the Archaeological Institute of America, 1989-1993, (1936-2022), Providence, Rhode Island.
Inv#: 9062
Guaranteed Authentic

$4,000

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