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This beautiful terracotta head was made in
one
of Central Asia’s most dynamic and
fascinating
periods, when the mighty forces of east and
west
were coming into full contact in the wake of
Alexander’s Empire. It bears characteristics
of
both endemic (Afghanistan and Bactria) and
western (Greek and Mediterranean) styles.
The
piece is truncated at the neck, and would
onece
have been part of a large sculpture or a
frieze.
The face is naturalistic, with full cheeks, a
high
forehead, sensitive lips and a long nose. The
brows are tendered geometrically, as are the
eyes, which have more in common with the
eastern aesthetic in their schematic
reductivism.
The ears are pierced with thick rings, beneath
a
coiffure comprised of carefully-arranged
waves
and ringlets. The head is tipped very slightly
to
the right, lending a reflective sensitivity.
The Greco-Bactrian Kingdom covered
today's
northern Afghanistan and parts of Central
Asia,
the easternmost area of the Hellenistic world,
from 250 to 125 BCE. The expansion of the
Greco- Bactrians into northern India from 180
BCE established the Indo-Greek Kingdom,
which
was to last until around 10 AD. This kingdom
was highly urbanized and was widely
considered
to be one of the richest of the Orient,
expanding
to the east and the west. The numerous small
city states and powers began to compete as
western influence waned in the area, leading
to
marked cultural and stylistic diversity. The
artworks of Central Asia reflect this, and there
are perhaps no finer examples than Greco-
Bactrian portraiture like the current example.
The
identity of the person portrayed is uncertain,
but
is likely to represent a king or ancestor, that
would have been displayed as a social point
for
the society in question.
This is a world-class piece of ancient art, and
one of the finest such specimens we have
seen.
- (LO.1087)
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