Head, young male figure
Production date
0599 BCE-0500 BCE
Country
Cyprus
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Object detail
Description
Bust, young male figure. Head of a young beardless male figure in soft white limestone. Fleshy oval face with large broad nose, prominent rounded chin and broad cheekbones. Large protruding almond-shaped eyes. Horizontal mouth, slightly upturned at corners, large ears, roughly modelled without internal detail. He wears a pointed cap or helmet with upturned cheek-flaps from beneath which the hair falls in a heavy mass to shoulders. Back flat and unmodelled. Tip of nose, chin and left ear damaged. Broken across neck. Surface worn, features indistinct. (Webb, Jennifer M.,1997 "Corpus of Cypriote Antiquities", Studies in Mediterranean Archaeology, Vol. XX:p6)
Classification
ARCHAEOLOGY Cypriot
ARCHAEOLOGY Cypriot ornament
ARCHAEOLOGY Cypriot ornament
Production date
0599 BCE-0500 BCE
Production place
Measurements
L119mm x W57mm x D65mm
Media/Materials description
Limestone
History and use
This may have been placed in a sanctuary. People made pilgrimages to sanctuaries in order to perform ritual activities. They placed statues bearing their likeness, which, standing in for the person, could continually worship on their behalf. An entire community of worshippers was represented when statues were placed en-masse in sanctuaries.
This is an incomplete example of a larger form. Complete examples show a male figure in a chiton and himilation standing frontal with both arms at the side, or the left arm at the side and the right across the chest in a fold of the himilation.
Accessories can tell us much about a person. The person who placed this likeness of themselves in an ancient Cypriot religious sanctuary may have been a labourer. Leather caps were worn by craftsmen and metalworkers, while rural labourers, shepherds and fisherman wore softer versons made of wool, fur or animal skin.
This is an incomplete example of a larger form. Complete examples show a male figure in a chiton and himilation standing frontal with both arms at the side, or the left arm at the side and the right across the chest in a fold of the himilation.
Accessories can tell us much about a person. The person who placed this likeness of themselves in an ancient Cypriot religious sanctuary may have been a labourer. Leather caps were worn by craftsmen and metalworkers, while rural labourers, shepherds and fisherman wore softer versons made of wool, fur or animal skin.
Associated person
Registration number
H14891
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